Welcome friends. Let’s raise the key.

The act of making music, or any creative pursuit, is inherently generous.  Sure, it’s brave; it takes courage and hard work (so, so, so much hard work!), but at its core it’s an act of giving.  It’s saying “here - I made this, let’s share it together.” To make music is to have hope, which is so easily lost sight of these days.

I chose to start Raising The Key because I’ve seen over and over how the arts can change us. Adding my voice to the noise and chaos seems futile, but I can use my voice, and my art, in response to our imperfect, curmudgeonly world.  I believe music makes us better at being human, whether we curate a playlist for a dinner party, an ailing friend, or a road trip; perhaps it’s for your solo show (me!), or you write your own (so cool). Sharing music calms fear. It helps us make sense of our lives and tells us we are more like others than we think. 

Here, I share my artist’s take on the world, the real one and the performing one.  I write about finding your voice, creativity as a way to cope, and discovering songs that speak to the soul. There are also the occasional off-topic posts because I’m human; aren’t we all?  And you’ll hear about beautiful work created by my amazing friends, colleagues and students. Creativity comes from our shared humanity. 

Oh, and the joke of the title, for me at least, is that I always asked for higher keys because there was a time that singing in my lower register was “hard.” But sometimes, we have to dig down deep to rise.

Join me.

About me.

I’m Susan: a singer, actor and voice professor living in the DC area. I’ve spent decades onstage performing and continue to do so, I teach it, and now I’ve branched out into recording and cabaret.  Some high points include Broadway, the New York cabaret scene, and literally being “the high note girl” for many productions; low points include….well, let’s just say there’ve been plenty. But I wouldn’t change any of them, because, growth.

One of my solo shows became an album and I loved recording it so much and doing all of the detailed, deep work a project like that requires. If you’re curious, you can listen to it wherever you get your music. Pop over to  my website if you want a fuller picture of my career.

At American University and in my private teaching I get to watch young people shine.  They’re our future, and I’m proud to invest in them. 

What can I expect?

I write (mostly) weekly. I very much appreciate those who value my work important enough to support it with a paid subscription (and thank you, with love!), but for now there’s no real pay wall as I work on finding a consistent footing here. And if you aren’t a fan of email (I get it - we’re all overwhelmed), you can always read my posts on the website. And the Substack app allows you to skip the whole email thing without missing posts.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas, please email me! I love hearing from you. And feel free to share what you’re listening to, favorite tunes, requests, or tell me about brilliant artists in all genres you admire. It takes a village.

Thank you so much for reading, and for raising the key.