Susan Lewis
Consulting ProducerSusan is a consulting producer for The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert series on WRTI, and contributes weekly intermission interviews with conductors and artists featured in the broadcasts.
In her more than 15 years at WRTI, Susan has interviewed a wide range of leading artists including conductors and composers: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simon Rattle, Wynton Marsalis, Marin Alsop, and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Christoph Eshenbach, Hannibal Locumbe, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jennifer Higdon, Donald Nally, John Adams, Valerie Coleman, Mason Bates; instrumentalists and vocalists: Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Itzak Perlman, Helene Grimaud, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Sharon Isbin, Andre Watts, Mark O’Connor, Angel Blue, Lawrence Brownlee, Jason Vieaux, Sarah Chang, and groundbreaking ensembles, including Imani Winds, PRISM Quartet, LA Guitar Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and The Crossing, as well as people from the world of literature, theater and fine arts, including architect Frank Gehry, actors Dule Hill, Anna Deveare Smith, and playwrights Terry Teachout and the late Terrence McNally.
She has authored many stories about music and the arts for WRTI, and produced and was host of WRTI’s TIME IN online interview series. She also hosted WRTI’s Live from the Performance Studio sessions.
Susan came to radio with a background in journalism, speechwriting, and law, which she practiced in New York City; she also taught entertainment law at Rutgers Law School in Camden. A former freelance writer and columnist for Philadelphia Magazine, she’s also the author of Reinventing Ourselves after Motherhood and a book of essays titled, What is a Kiss, Anyway?
She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband, goldendoodle, and whichever of her four grown kids pop in to visit.
-
-
Susan Lewis has interviewed countless artists during her 18 years at WRTI. Here are some quotes about creativity and humanity that have stayed with her.
-
"I've learned that when you talk about art and music you end up talking about life," says Susan Lewis, who has covered a lot of ground in 18 years at WRTI. Before signing off, she offers a parting reflection.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert features a 2019 concert led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, featuring Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1, Anna Clyne's Masquerade, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for winds.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert features Italian pianist Beatrice Rana with music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to perform Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto, on a program with Florence Price's Third Symphony and Ravel's orchestral suite 'Le Tombeau de Couperin.'
-
In this episode of The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI, Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the orchestra in its first performance of Louise Farrenc's Symphony No. 3 in G minor, and Seong-Jin Cho performs Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert celebrates International Jazz Day with performances of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue; Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major; and Wynton Marsalis’ Tuba Concerto, along with selections from his Blues Symphony.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI features Roderick Cox in his debut, conducting John Adams' Dr. Atomic Symphony and the Suite No. 2 from Ravel's ballet Daphnis and Chloe. In between, Augustin Hadelich plays Sibelius' iconic Violin Concerto in D minor.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI features two exciting soloists, British cello sensation Sheku Kanneh-Mason and South African soprano Pretty Yende, in a program of Haydn and Mahler, alongside a world premiere by Xi Wang.
-
The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert finds clarinetist Ricardo Morales and violist Choong-Jin Chang shining in a Max Bruch Concerto, alongside Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9.
