Suzanne Rousso, the artistic director at Mallarmé Music, reflects on her role as a musician and leader of the 40-year-old organization
By Natalie McCormick | Photo by John Michael Simpson
Suzanne Rousso discovered her love for the viola when it came time to choose an instrument in her third grade music classroom on Long Island. “It seemed to fit my personality,” she says. “I’m kind of an introvert, and I think that’s the role of the viola.”
Her passion for playing blossomed from that point, taking her to a Juilliard pre-college program as a high school student and on to several roles as a freelance orchestral musician. She moved to North Carolina in 1989 and played for the North Carolina Symphony, eventually taking on the role of its director of education, which she held for nearly a decade. She moved to Maine and worked for the Portland Symphony Orchestra for several years before she and her son, Charles Manker, “missed North Carolina so much” that they moved back when a job for chamber music ensemble Mallarmé Music opened up. This season marks her 15th as artistic director of the Durham institution, which also celebrates a milestone anniversary of 40 years this fall.
Suzanne infused the organization with her own vision while preserving its core values when she took over the role from Mallarmé’s founder, Anna Wilson, in 2008. “We still abide by that basic premise of chamber music, which is an ensemble of two or more people without a conductor, … but also try to expand the definition of chamber music,” she says. Expect to hear Bach from the pews of NorthStar Church of the Arts or Duke Chapel; a program of Cuban dance music at Motorco Music Hall; or a family-friendly concert at the Durham County Main Library. “We’re a nomadic group, so we don’t have our own space, and that’s part of the charm,” Suzanne says. The group also does not have a core of musicians, instead hiring local instrumentalists based on the repertoire. “We try to be diverse, and I think we do a good job at that – everything from early music on period instruments to … the brass concert we did [in early February] with contemporary American music.”
As Mallarmé’s sole full-time employee, “there’s a lot of things to do, as with any nonprofit,” Suzanne says. “You’re arranging concerts, you’re securing venues, getting pianos tuned, organizing musicians. That’s the day to day as far as the artistic part. But there’s a bunch related to the administrative side – finances, grant writing. How do you sell your tickets on your website? How do you build a website? That’s time consuming, … and most of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned along the way. “One thing that’s great about my job is that I still get to perform on my instrument,” Suzanne says. “Performing is really the best part, honestly – having concerts that people love and are excited about.” And if you think the movements, pieces and notes are rote by this point, Suzanne is quick to negate that notion. “I still have to practice every day on my instrument,” she says. “I try to do at least an hour. You can’t ever stop.”
Mallarmé itself embodies that doctrine. “I think 40 years is a pretty respectable number,” Suzanne says. She and Mallarmé board chair Andrea Edith Moore are excited for what the future holds for the organization. “It shows that classical music, chamber music and the type of programming we do has longevity,” Andrea says. “[Suzzane’s] really a jill-of-all-trades – she’s able to lead and be in that role, but also be an artist and a performer. She’s one of the busiest performers I know.”
A HIGH NOTE
“I love all our concerts, but I am especially looking forward to our 40th season anniversary celebratory concert on Friday, May 24, at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw,” Suzanne says. “Violinist Jennifer Curtis, cellist Caroline Stinson and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute will perform Franz Schubert’s monumental B-flat Trio, Op. 99. I am excited to have such a stellar group of musicians playing a traditional chamber music work in a distinctly nontraditional venue for classical music … it kind of sums up what Mallarmé is all about!”
