Dr. Susan Maxwell

Teaching Associate Professor
Bassoon, Music Theory

785-532-5740
suemax@k-state.edu
126 McCain Auditorium

Susan Gustavson Maxwell has dedicated her career to three dimensions of musicianship; she is a teacher, performer and reedmaker. Currently, she teaches Bassoon, History of Rock, Introduction to Music, and Aural Skills. She has also taught Music Theory, and Leadership in Practice, in the School of Leadership Studies. She performs regularly with the Konza Wind Quintet and the Tallgrass Trio. She is very proud of her students’ accomplishments, which are best viewed at the K-State Bassoon studio website. One great resource on this website is the “Honk Hotline,” a contact listing of private bassoon teachers in the state of Kansas.

Maxwell is the first developer and retailer of a bassoon tool created and named for a woman. It has been awarded by the Kansas State University Research Grant Funds and was celebrated in the 75 years of KSU Invention and Intellectual Property event. Learn more about the Maxwell Bassoon Profiler at www.bassoonprofiler.com.

Dr. Maxwell’s teaching includes several areas of special interest. One is the art of playing high notes on the bassoon. This has resulted in a study for bassoonists that has been published by Prairie Dawg Press, Just for Winds and Imagine Music. The newest version is published by Maxwell bassoon Products. It includes scale practice, short melodic exercises, and a fingering chart.

Some of Dr. Maxwell’s performance engagements have included the Kansas City Symphony, The Kansas City Lyric Opera, The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Wichita Grand Opera, Chamber Orchestra of the Smokey Valley, The Tulsa Philharmonic, The Lake Shore Symphony in Chicago, Illinois, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico.