Susan Spafford

Susan Spafford is a member of the Richmond Symphony (VA), Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (NY), Binghamton Philharmonic, and the Lancaster Festival Orchestra (OH). She has played regularly with the symphonies in Williamsburg (VA), Allentown and Harrisburg (PA), Albany, Binghamton, Syracuse and ProMusica (NY), Skaneateles Festival, and additional regional orchestras in NJ, PA, OH, and NYC. As a soloist, she has given recitals at Mansfield University, the Library of Congress, throughout the United States and in Seoul, South Korea. She has regularly appeared in chamber music performances of the Lancaster Festival Concert Series and participated in the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra's Chamber Music Series. 

As an advocate for the importance of music in education, she has been invited to address state legislatures on the issue of the Performing Arts in school curriculum, and has collaborated with organizations such as VH1, ASTA, and MENC. She was a featured guest in the Philadelphia Orchestras Family Concert Series and a presenter at state Music Educators Association's Conferences. Spafford spent many years teaching in public and private schools, and has been a featured Faculty Guest Artist for the String Institute at Ithaca College. As a natural extension of her performing and education roles, Spafford became involved in running The Music Paradigm, an organization that works with orchestras around the world to promote live classical music and develop new audiences. From 201 to 2021, she served as the CCO's Executive Director, while continuing to perform in the violin section.

Spafford earned her Master's degree in Violin Performance and Bachelor's degrees in Performance and Education from the Eastman School of Music. She is a certified adjudicator for the NY State School Music Association, has completed teacher training courses with the Suzuki Association of Americas, and is a graduate of the Essentials of Orchestra Management program run by the League of American Orchestras.