A native of Richland, WA, Susan Bengtson  graduated with a Bachelor of Music in May 2016 from Jeffrey Irvine’s studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). She is currently Helen Callus’s graduate assistant at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Her viola studies have led her across the nation and the globe, performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician everywhere from Copenhagen to Aspen, and Cambridge to Wisconsin. As a winner of the Mid-Columbia Young Artists Competition, Ms. Bengtson made her solo debut with the Mid-Columbia Symphony. She has also won the Campus Super Stars performance scholarship competition in Cleveland, the Non-Keyboard competition, and the WMEA Solo and Ensemble contest.

Dedicated to community involvement and promoting social justice, she has organized and led benefit concerts in the Tri-Cities and Cleveland to benefit various non-profits including, most recently, the Children’s Hunger Alliance and World Relief Tri-Cities. As a Political Science minor and Civic Engagement Scholar through Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Bengtson was recognized for her volunteer work at the Joyful Noise Music School and other organizations in the Cleveland community. A leader among her peers, she served as President of CIM’s Student Government Association and the CIM-CWRU joint chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, the professional music service fraternity. In her spare time, Ms. Bengtson enjoys running and reading.