Susan Pierotti
About
Q&A
Question: Can you tell us a bit about you, and what you are up to these days?
Answer I worked full-time as a violinist for 40 years in symphony orchestras, working across opera, ballet, chamber music and teaching. <br> <br> I was Section Leader of 1st Violins (third chair) of Orchestra Victoria for 17 years. Since 2013, I have freelanced as a writer, book editor and copywriter. I am concertmaster of the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra and freelance with chamber music. I have been the National Editor of the Australian Strings Association magazine, Stringendo, since 2013.
Question: What was a highlight of your time in AYO programs?
Answer The programs, the tours, music camps.
Question: What skills, musical and otherwise, did you take away from your time at AYO?
Answer How to collaborate with prickly characters towards a common goal, how to lead people, how to deliver a concise message in a small amount of time, how the total is great than the sum of the parts (i.e. not perfect performers making great music)
Question: What was your favourite piece or performance during your programs?
Answer Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5, Sibelius' Symphony No.2, Stravinsky's <i> Petrushka</i> – so many!
Question: Why do you think AYO is important to the Australian cultural landscape?
Answer It is often a starting point for young aspiring musicians to dedicate their lives to music and to launch their careers.
Question: What was one of the first pieces of music to inspire you?
Answer Rimsky-Korsakov's <i> Scheherazade </i>.
Question: What pieces would you share with people who want to discover more about orchestral music?
Answer Stravinsky's Petrushka, Beethoven's Symphony No.3 (<i>Eroica</i>).
Question: Is there a piece of advice you received from a music teacher/mentor that has always stayed with you?
Answer Always remember the audience.
Question: How or why did you choose your instrument?
Answer Heard it played by my mother's cousin and wanted to read the music.
Question: What instrument would you play if you couldn’t play your primary instrument?
Answer Viola or clarinet.
Question: Which composer would you invite to a dinner party and why?
Answer Haydn and Handel. Their music is very warm and connects with human experiences. They were also men of the world and related to people of all classes.
Question: Would you rather: that you sounded like a tuba when you sneezed, or sounded like a piccolo when you laughed?
Answer Piccolo when I laughed.
Question: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Answer Thank you, AYO, for the wonderful experiences you gave me and other young people.