Stephanie

susberich

Composer Vocalist

When I was a child, I used to collect toy skeletons. I'd carry them around in secret and divulge poetic confidences and strange little tunes into their ear. Many innocent, solitary hours were thus spent, until the stark realization hit that my little skeletons could never bring our stories into the world: our secrets died between us. From that moment, something stirred within, and I felt the futile weight of keeping my inner world captive to a mute, dying destiny. I buried my little skeletons in the backyard as the sun set, and resolved to share my strange little songs and ideas with living creatures instead. At first, I sang my tunes to my pets and the backyard squirrels. Eventually, I sang them to my parents. Now, I share them with everyone.

I am a composer and vocalist, holding a BA from New York University, an MM in classical vocal performance from New Jersey City University, a graduate diploma in composition from the Longy School of Music and an MA in composition from Tufts University. Being half Ecuadorian and half Croatian, the romantic Spanish language and dark, Slavic sensibility form integral parts of my psyche. Compositionally, I love setting the sweetness of the Spanish language and immersing myself in the fruits of her romantic imagery while also imbuing my sound world with the intensity of the Slavic soul.

My music has been premiered by the Etchings Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble. I've performed in venues as diverse in range from the Viper Room to NJPAC. I've also played in venues such as Dixon Place, the cell, Cornelia Street Café, and NYU's Kimmel Center.

My guiding philosophy is that music heals and can be used to build bridges, even between opposing forces.

The dynamic and tenuous dance between light and darkness drives my art. Much of my life has contended with overcoming loss and grappling with mortality and Truth. I strive towards the eternal because I've learned each breath ushers us towards it. I resolved to embrace the inevitable and work to give this life the only meaning it gave me: music.

My Master’s thesis for Tufts University (2022) set the poetry of the nearly forgotten Cuban poetess, Juana Borrero, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 18. Her inner world was an interplay of light, love, darkness, death, and destiny. Because of her, I learned to be a composer, so that I could tell her story, which leapt up from her 130 year old words into my ear. She inspired me to tell stories that need to be told. I premiered this song cycle at Immaculate Conception Parish in Salem, MA in May 2022. I will release the Borrero project as my debut first recording this year. I served as the graduate teaching assistant for UMKC’s composition department for three semesters, where I taught labs on instrumentation, notation, and 20th century counterpoint. I also taught private composition lessons to undergraduate composers. Currently I’m in my second year of my DMA and will graduate in 2025.

I believe music speaks to us through beauty and mystery. And I like opening doors to this discreet realm.