Originally from Ottawa, Susan Adams studied in Calgary, Basel and Amsterdam
where she specialized in the performance of music of the 16th to late 18th Centuries.
Returning to Canada, Susan moved to Vancouver where she played numerous concerts as
both soloist and continuo player. Eventually, she began to widen her collection of
antique and reproduction early keyboards, and performed in Washington, Alberta, and
Oregon, as well as throughout British Columbia.
In 1987 she made her first recording, and has made to date six full-length productions
, a survey of Sonatas by Mozart, played on the Viennese early piano (custom-made for
her by Johannes Secker); a series of Suites by Couperin on a Frank Hubbard French
double-manual harpsichord; a unusual recording of music especially designated for an
Italian-style harpsichord; and various recordings of music by Haydn, J. C. Bach,
J. S. Bach. One of her most successful recordings is a performance of duo music of
the early nineteenth century, using a restored square piano from the 1820's of
rarely-heard pieces for early guitar and piano with Clive Titmuss. She is one of
only a handful of BC artists with such a discography still available to students and
the public.
Moving to Kelowna, she established and cultivated a web presence by beginning one of
the first downloadable music websites for early music in the country. With the advent
of mobiles and streaming her recordings have reached a new audience. She has proven
to be prescient and persistent in monitoring the public appetite for early music in
Canada.
She commissioned the restoration of early pianos by Bechstein, Erard, and Collard:
and a particularly spectacular grand, made by John Broadwood in London in 1809. This
is the same model that Broadwood sent as a gift to Beethoven in 1815; it quickly
became his favourite, shaping the sounds heard in his landmark sonatas in unexpected
ways.
As a continuo player, she has worked with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Handel
Society of Vancouver and the Kamloops and Okanagan Symphonies, and has become
principal continuo player for the Okanagan Festival Singers, playing for the last
six years in the biennial performance of Handel's Messiah and Bach's Christmas
Oratorio.
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![Broadwood Grand Pianoforte 1809 by Susan Adams [Broadwood Grand Pianoforte 1809 by Susan Adams]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Susan%20Adams/Broadwood%20Grand%20Pianoforte%201809/cover_200.jpg)
Broadwood Grand Pianoforte 1809
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