University of Denver

• State: Colorado
• Private School
• School Website

Susan Cahill, bass faculty

• • Email Susan

General Statistics

• • US News Ranking: #86 (tie) in National Universities
  • US News Overall Score (out of 100): 51
  • Tuition & Fees 2016-17: $46,362
  • Room & Board 2016-17: $12,021
  • Total Enrollment: 11,797
  • Acceptance Rate (from 2015): 73%
  • Student – Faculty Ratio: 11:1
  • 4 year graduation rate: 67%
  • % of undergrads receiving Financial aid: 42%
  • Average Financial Aid: $29,644

About The Bass Faculty

Susan Cahill, Colorado Symphony Orchestra bassist and University of Denver faculty member, graduated from Indiana University. Before joining the Colorado Symphony, where she has held section as well as acting assistant positions, Susan was principal bass of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans. She is also a member of the faculty of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival.

As a solo performer Susan has performed with a number of ensembles. In 2010, she performed as a soloist with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra under the direction of Scott Yoo. The Colorado Springs Gazette praised her Bottesini Concerto No.2 as “a showcase for the amazing Susan Cahill, (she) made the double bass sing with a marvelously disembodied, woody timbre.” The Colorado Springs Gazette also called her 2008 performance of Jacob Druckman’s Valentine “Breathless.”

With Extasis she has performed as soloist at the BASS2010 double bass convention in Berlin, Germany and has had numerous solo performances in Colorado with Up Close and Musical, the Colorado Youth Sinfonia, and with the Colroado Symphony in 2002. Susan has an active teaching career and, in addition to teaching at the University of Denver, she has given master classes at the University of Colorado and the University of Northern Colorado. She has also taught at the University of Colorado during the 2001, 2002, and 2007 school years. She has been on the faculty of Tulane University and The Metropolitian State College of Denver.

After joining the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music in 2009, Susan hosted the first ever “Bassfest” at the school with special guest and clinician Bruce Bransby. She presented at the International Society of Double Bassists convention in San Francisco.

Susan has been active in chamber music and festivals in the West and elsewhere. She has performed with the Colorado Chamber Players, Strings in the Mountains in Steamboat Springs, the Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Peter Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR. As a member of the faculty of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, she is known for her teaching and coaching of the double bass chamber repertoire as well as her cutting edge performances of the bass solo and chamber music literature.

In addition to performing with Extasis she enjoys performing and touring with her sister, Beth Cahill, who is a singer-songwriter. Together they have performed at Swallow Hill in Denver as well as various other venues in the West and throughout Canada. With the wildly popular band, Boulder Acoustic Society, Susan made her recording debut as a cellist on their release entitled 8th Color. Susan performs on an instrument made by Guiseppe Santori of Turin dated 1823.