About
Suzanne U. Polak is a dynamic and genre-defying artist whose work as both a soloist and collaborator has captivated audiences across concert halls, ballet stages, and theatrical venues. Praised for her “wonderfully sensitive” touch and “tender, shimmering, deeply resonant” sound (CVNC, 2023), her performances reflect a rare versatility and emotional depth.
In the 2025–26 season, Suzanne appeared as soloist for the Carolina Ballet in Zalman Raffael’s work A Gothic Interlude performing Beethoven Sonata op. 31 no.2; she also appeared as a featured collaborator with the Four Corners Ensemble for the Festival of New American Music at California State University at Sacramento. Other highlights include a recital appearances with three different ensembles at the International Double Reed Symposium, and a moving performance of the Gates of Justice by Dave Brubeck with the North Carolina Master Chorale. In November, she will be appearing again with the ballet for their program Jewels and as a featured performer with the Master Chorale in March, performing Beethoven's Choral Fantasy.
A passionate advocate for collaborative music-making and ensemble work, Suzanne serves on the adjunct faculty at Elon University, where her students have excelled at the national level in the NATS competition, often performing her original arrangements of popular music. She is also adjunct at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, both playing for student and faculty recitals and teaching composition. She is accompanist for the North Carolina Master Chorale, recently preparing major works including Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht and Bartók’s Cantata Profana. Her orchestral experience is equally distinguished. She has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in Carnival of the Animals, organist for Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, and thereminist for David Del Tredici’s Final Alice. She has served as Acting Principal Keyboard for the Wheeling and Virginia Symphony Orchestras, and appeared with the North Carolina, Charlotte, and West Virginia Symphonies. Her ballet work includes live and recorded performances with Carolina Ballet, including the recent premiere of Snow White.
As a composer, Polak has received numerous commissions and accolades. Her work Mass for One was a finalist in the 2026 NATS Art Song Competition, and she wrote and recorded her music for performances of Delicate Territory, a new dance work by JoyeMovement Dance Company. In addition to her work at UNCG, she served on the adjunct composition faculty at Guilford College and recently completed a commission for the North Carolina Saxophone Ensemble. Her compositions have been featured in solo recitals, theatre productions, and recordings, including The Tragedy of Jane Shore and a celebrated score for a new realization of The Beggar’s Opera, which was named among the “Best Scores of 2001” by both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and City Paper. Her album of original piano works, Unguarded Moments, showcases her unique voice as a composer-performer. Her early work in musical theatre, including as accompanist and faculty at Pittsburgh CAPA 6–12, at Hope Academy, and as composer/performer for productions at Pittsburgh Public Theatre (The Royal Family, Private Lives, Our Town, and Amadeus), continues to inform her broad creative vision.
She currently resides in North Carolina and holds a Doctorate in Music from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
