Slaughter, Susan

She is a trumpeter and teacher who grew up in Indiana and had her first musical lessons on the piano when she was around five or six years old. She continued with these until her fifth grade in school and then after taking a liking to the trumpet decided that is what she wanted to concentrate on. She became proficient in it by the time she was in tenth grade and after she had learned all she could from her private teacher she went and studied with a local teacher from the community music school.

She took her further education at Indiana University and became part of the orchestra and from here on in she decided that this was how she wanted to perform. She became First Trumpet for the Toledo Symphony in Ohio and then in 1969 she became Principal Trumpet for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and is the first woman ever to hold this position in a major symphony orchestra to this day.

Still performing for the SLSO she has also been very involved in other projects and in 1992 became the founder of the International Women’s Brass Conference, which was organised to help female brass musicians gain recognition. The IWBC have become known for staging an annual concert at the Saint Louis Cathedral Basilica where members from the brass section of the SLSO perform Holiday Brass shows, often with her own arrangements, and such is the growth of the organisation that several other cities also put on shows to raise funds. She stepped down as President in 1999 but continued to play an active role, primarily in the Saint Louis concerts.

During her career she has also performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Brass Quartet and performed the national anthem in Game 3 of the World Series in 1991.

In 2010 she retired after serving 40 years with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

As a teacher she has been on the faculties of the National Orchestra Institute and the Grand Teton Orchestra Seminar and given many workshops, master classes and clinics on the trumpet, including a lecture on her work with dentists on dental structure and trumpet technique.

Her many recordings include Holiday Brass featuring Susan Slaughter, Drive Time: Blue Ridge Parkway and albums with the SLSO such as American Album, Gershwin: Works for Piano and Orchestra, The Typwriter: Leroy Anderson Favourites, Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake and Slatkin and Munch Conduct Barber. In recognition of her contribution to music she has received the Great Music Award from the Saint Louis Cathedral Concerts and an award for “Excellence in the Arts” from the Saint Louis Arts Awards.

Holiday Brass recordings
Angels We Have Heard on High (Traditional French/James Chadwick/Edward Barnes)
Music Masters 01782 (CD: Holiday Brass featuring Susan Slaughter)
Trumpet – Susan Slaughter
St. Louis Children’s Choirs – Concert Choir

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra recordings

Leroy Anderson compositions

Belle of the Ball
RCA 9026 68048-2 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Blue Tango
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Bugler’s Holiday
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Clarinet Candy
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Fiddle Faddle
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The First Day of Spring
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Forgotten Dreams
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Horse and Buggy
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Jazz Legato
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Jazz Pizzicato
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The Penny Whistle Song
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The Phantom Regiment
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Plink, Plank, Plunk!
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Promenade
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Sandpaper Ballet
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Sleigh Ride
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The Syncopated Clock
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

A Trumpeter’s Lullaby
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The Typewriter
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

The Waltzing Cat
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Sources:

Slaughter, Susan

Navigation