Susan Dunning

Contact: 208.622.6009 or susanpelius@cox.net

When Susan Spelius Dunning moved to Sun Valley from Southern California, the classically trained pianist and longtime music educator noticed a void … so, she quickly stepped in to fill it. Dunning began collaborating with the College of Southern Idaho two years ago to create a program for music education, and now the Hailey campus staffs a faculty of two and offers music theory, music appreciation and piano classes. The innovative instructor didn’t stop there. As part of a larger vision of seeing a chamber music series offered to the public during the winter, she began hosting frequent musical soirees in her living room, where classical musicians gather to perform chamber music much like Chopin, Beethoven and Bach had hundreds of years before them. Her living room is an enviable assemblage of instruments, including a pair of Steinway grands, two upright pianos, an organ and a harpsichord. In addition to the chamber music soirees, Dunning offers private teaching, which ranges from six-year-old beginners to trained musicians seeking to improve or adults who wished they hadn’t given up the piano as children. “I find fulfillment in working with all the different levels of students” she says. Her teaching style is performance oriented, with students performing for invitation-only crowds monthly. Dunning also maintains an active performance schedule and recently recorded a solo classical CD.