Dr. Susan Maxwell

Teaching Associate Professor
Studio Bassoon, Music Business, History of Rock
Email: suemax@k-state.edu
Office: 126 McCain Auditorium

Biography
Susan Gustavson Maxwell has dedicated her career to three dimensions of musicianship; she is a teacher, performer, and reed maker. Currently, she teaches Studio Bassoon, History of Rock, History of Hip Hop and is the Coordinator for Music Business at Kansas State University. She has also taught Music Theory, Aural Skills and Leadership in Practice, in the School of Leadership Studies. She performs regularly with local orchestras, the Chamber Orchestra of the Smokey Valley, Topeka Symphony, Salina Symphony and more. 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.

Dr. Maxwell’s teaching includes several areas of special interest. She is the only woman with a named bassoon tool with her Bassoon Reed Profiler (bassoonprofiler.com.) This tool is in use at all major music schools around the country. She has also launched another new product, the Maxwell Bassoon Leg Hook. These are sold around the world and are available to customers directly or at Midwest Musical Imports. Her business, Maxwell Bassoon Products brings a expertise in business and product development to her music business students.

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