Susan Marchant

About Susan J. Marchant

Director of Choral Activities, Organ, and Harpsichord

Susan Marchant earned her degrees in the area of organ performance. A native of Buffalo, New York, she received her undergraduate training at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, then earned MM, MMA, and DMA degrees at Yale University. She has been a member of the PSU faculty since 1979, and her teaching duties here have included the areas of applied organ and harpsichord as well as music theory and literature.

An active keyboard performer, she has been presented on a number of prominent recital series across the country and has performed at a national convention of the Organ Historical Society. In June, 1995, she was a featured artist at the Region VI convention of the American Guild of Organists, where she presented a performance of Bach's Clavierubung, Part III. She has also served as harpsichordist and co-director of the Early Music Consort of Kansas City, a period-instrument ensemble.

On the campus of Pittsburg State, she guided the project that resulted in the University's acquisition of the Fisk Opus 106 pipe organ, an instrument that has been widely praised for its excellence.

Dr. Marchant’s interest in choral conducting was sparked by her extensive work with Daniel Moe at Oberlin. She has served as Director of Choral Activities at Pittsburg State since 1988. The PSU Choirs have been featured at state conventions of the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA), and they also maintain an active schedule of on-campus performances and annual touring throughout the region. Biennial spring tours have taken the ensembles to various parts of North America and Europe. Recent tours have been to interesting venues in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, England, and Wales.

Additionally, Dr. Marchant holds the position of director of music for Pittsburg's First United Methodist Church. This large congregation has earned a regional reputation for the quality of its music program. Its adult choir was chosen, through a national audition process, to perform at the 1992 General Conference of the United Methodist Church held in Louisville. Among this group's other activities was an English tour, a trip that included choral performances in Wesley's Chapel as well as Norwich and Gloucester Cathedrals, and organ recitals for Ms. Marchant in Southwark Cathedral and St. Botolph's, Aldgate.

An active member of a number of professional organizations, she has served on the State Boards of KMEA and KsACDA and is a past dean of both the Ozark and the Southeast Kansas Chapters of the AGO.

Dr. Marchant has served as Chair of the Department of Music since the fall of 2014.

Education

M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A., Yale University, Connecticut, U.S.A.

B.M., Oberlin College, Ohio, U.S.A.