Roy Retires after 26 Years in School of Music
February 28, 2005
Suzanne Roy, associate professor of music in voice, retired from the University in December 2004 after 26 years of service. Before joining the Penn State faculty in 1978, Roy had an active and extensive career as a solo recitalist, and performed in opera and oratorio. She has sung frequently with the State College Choral Society and with Penn State vocal, choral and instrumental ensembles. As a recitalist, she is especially well known for singing the French repertoire and 20th-century vocal music. Roy also gave the premiere performances of a number of works by Penn State composers Burt Fenner, professor emeritus of music, and Bruce Trinkley, professor of music.
While at Penn State, Roy directed the Penn State Opera Workshop and served for one year as interim co-director of the School of Music, with Burt Fenner. She has also been credited with building and developing the school’s distinguished voice program that today is recognized nationally.
Roy received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Before coming to Penn State, she served on the faculties of Radford University and the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. While teaching at the University of Wisconsin, she was director of a study abroad program in France.
As a researcher and author, Roy has received grants from numerous organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities for her research on the relationship between words and music. She received a Wingspread grant for her creative work in developing music in general studies courses.
Roy serves as a regular reviewer of song-related books and electronic media for the American Library Association. She is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the College Music Society, and has held administrative positions in both organizations. In addition, she was chair of the committee to prepare standards, levels and actual content of the first Pennsylvania solo vocal list for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.
In her retirement, Roy is serving as a docent at the Palmer Museum of Art and taking art history classes to support that work. She is also working with the Arts and Humanities Library at Penn State to strengthen its vocal collection, in addition to volunteering at Mount Nittany Medical Center and teaching private voice lessons.
Contact: Amy Milgrub Marshall, alm157@psu.edu or 814.863.2104