Susan began trumpet lessons with her uncle at eight and joined the musician's union at
fifteen to play professionally. She later studied with Armando Ghitalla and Roger Voisin,
principal trumpeters of the Boston Symphony. As a Boston area freelancer she played
everything from Broadway musicals to the Ringling Brothers Circus. Classical performances
included operas, orchestral concerts, chamber brass groups and solo trumpet recitals
(with organ) on historical and modern trumpets.
Her 1993 CD, Baroque Treasures for Trumpet and Organ,
won critical acclaim in Fanfare ("assured and musical"),
New England Performer ("sublime tone and warmth") and
American Record Guide ("flawless technique, tasteful dynamics").
Susan has taught at Brown University, Wheaton College, UMass-Lowell and
Berklee College of Music. At Berklee she created a course about female
musicians, and hosted Women in Music forums with panelists jazz pianist
Carolyn Wilkins, jazz flutist Barbara London, trombonist Abbie Conant,
rock guitarist Lauren Passarelli, conductor Kay George Roberts, musicologist
Judith Tick, pianist Virginia Eskin, and composer Pozzi Escot.
Above: Susan teaches a trumpet master class at Berklee
In 1992 Susan met Edna White, one of the foremost trumpet
soloists of the early 20th Century. Read about her inspiring life and
career in Women Who Dared
Click the cover to see more.
Edna’s historic recordings are available here.
DISCOVERIES
For the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC), Susan did extensive research on
female brass players. At the first IWBC conference (1993) the Pioneers Committee distributed
a booklet documenting the names and accomplishments of hundreds of women brass players.
In 2005 Susan discovered a "lost" all-woman band, photo at left,
the Original Shades of Blue and persuaded the New Orleans
Times-Picayune to run a feature article on them. She videotaped an
interview with Rita Gibliant, whose sister played in the band. The video is
in the Tulane University Hogan Jazz Archives and the National Park Service
Jazz Historic Site. See more photos of the band
On April 30, 2012 Susan spoke at the Rochester (NY) Music Hall of Fame Awards, to
introduce legendary Boston Symphony Orchestra principal flutist, Doriot Anthony Dwyer,
one of the honorees.
Read Susan’s profile of Doriot
In 2008, Susan published her first Frank Renzi crime thriller. The Premier Book Awards named Absolution
Best Mystery-Suspense-Thriller of 2009. The Feathered Quill Book Awards named Natalie's Revenge
Best Mystery-Thriller of 2014. See all of Susan’s Frank Renzi crime thillers
She also writes about true crime. See her DARK DEEDS books
PUBLICATIONS
A recognized authority on female musicians, jazz and classical, in 2003, Susan spoke at the
Tau Beta Sigma National Convention in Norfolk, VA. Between 2002 and 2005 she presented
jazzwomen lectures at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, New Orleans Public Library,
Dillard University, and the International Music Colloquium at the Louis Armstrong Festival.
Biographical entries in Scribner's American Biography: Trumpeter Les Elgart, jazz singer Carmen McRae,
jazz pianist Hazel Scott, conductors Antonia Brico and Thomas Schippers, pianist-raconteur Oscar Levant,
organist E. Power Biggs; in Routledge's Jewish Women in America:Trombonist Dorothy Ziegler
Edna White Chandler: A Brasswoman Pioneer, Women of Note Quarterly, Nov. 1994
Susan produced Growing Up in America: 1900-1920, a three-part video documentary (1981-83) while
hosting a Rhode Island radio show with music, news and interviews.
NEW DIRECTIONS
April, 2015: Susan appeared at the The Black Box Theater in Mansfield, MA, for their program
ALL ABOUT MYSTERIES. Susan and mystery author Judy Copek talked to an enthusiastic audience.
April 2012: At the Popular Cultural Association Conference in Boston, Susan and three other authors
discussed their gritty crime novels on the Panel: Dirty Business
August 2008: a book signing at the
Turner Free Library, Randolph MA
October 2008, Attleboro, MA Limoncello Book Club
Susan in the middle holding a copy of Absolution
March, 2009: Words & Music Panel, So
You Want to be a Rock Star,
New Orleans, Louisiana. At right,
Susan and Michael Lang, producer
of the the first Woodstock Music Festival.
September 2009: Susan was a panelst
at the Louisiana Bookfest, Baton Rouge, LA
December, 2012: Susan signed books at the NE Mobile Bookstore in MA
with William Landay, author of the NY Times best-seller Defending Jacob.
Photo at right: William Landay and Susan Fleet
Talk and booksigning
at the Brunswick, Maine Library
August, 2013: Mystery Author Panel, Wakefield Library.
Susan wears her noir detective hat.
March, 2009:
Book signing at Cafe du Monde,
New Orleans, LA
September, 2011
In June 2018 she spoke about writing series characters and how to keep them fresh at the Berries, Bridges
and Books Writers Conference in Ponchatula, LA
WELCOME TO SUSAN FLEET’S WEBSITE
Some of her AUTHOR SPEAKING EVENTS
WELCOME TO SUSAN FLEET’S WEBSITE
AUTHOR, TRUMPETER, MUSIC HISTORIAN
Copyright Susan Fleet 2007 All rights reserved None of the materials on this website may be reproduced or
transmitted by any means, including photocopying, recording or the use of any retrieval system without
permission. For permission, email Susan via the contact page
On March 8, 2018, Susan was on a panel with
two other mystery authors speaking about their
books at the East Bank Regional Library.
Photo at right