Bio

Suzanne Mueller is a native and resident of Long Island (NY). She is a graduate of both the Pre-College and College of The Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Marion Feldman, Alexander Kouguell, Lorne Munroe, Leslie Parnas, Channing Robbins, and Harvey Shapiro, and she has coached with artists including Joseph Fuchs, Margot Garrett, William Lincer, and, for non-classical cello and perspective, Eugene Friesen. 

She made her New York recital debut under the auspices of Artists International as a member of the piano/cello Elysian Duo, and went on to perform as half of its successor, Elysian II, for ten years, before forming CROSS ISLAND with pianist Elinor  Abrams Zayas in 2007. They primarily perform as a duo, but often collaborate with a clarinetist and/or violinist. Regardless of its configuration, CROSS ISLAND's programming blends familiar favorites with new discoveries, and the group welcomes collaboration with composers. Their 2011 CD, Quiet Strength, a collaboration with clarinetist Joseph Rutkowski, Jr., included works by Roger Blanc, Keri Degg, Andreas van Haren, Jeffrey Harrington, Mark McCarron, Paul Schoenfield, Rick Sowash, and Meira Warshauer, including some original arrangements. 

Beginning  in summer, 2023, Suzanne is performing as half of Cambiata Cello Duo, a collaboration with cellist Paul Lawrence Finkesltein which made its debut at Old Westbury Gardens. She also appears with the folk duo Hungrytown and the McCarron Bros.(& Sister) jazz quintet. She has been Summer Sunday Concerts Artist-in-Residence at Old Westbury Gardens (Long, Island, NY) since 2003. There, she presents a series of outdoor summer concerts in a broad range of genres with various partners. 

Suzanne is a member of the New Directions Cello Association. For ten years, she was half of the duo, McCarron & Mueller, with guitarist/composer Mark McCarron, and also performed as a member of the jazz-inflected pop ensemble supporting his collaboration with Dave Rave. She has also appeared and recorded with singer/songwriter Terry Winchell and performed with Richard Barone at the 1988 Berlin Independence Days Festival as part of his Cool Blue Halo tour.

In 2013, she released her first solo album, Solitaire, featuring a number of premieres, several written especially for her - an outgrowth of her involvement with Composer's Voice, which facilitates collaboration between performers and composers. Composers represented on the album are J.S. Bach, Barbara Bach Sternberg, Greg Bartholomew, Bela Bartok, Douglas DaSilva, Lawrence Kramer, Nicholas Chen McConnell, Jimmy Pigott, J.P. Redmond, Bettie Ross, Rick Sowash, David Wolfson, and Carol Worthey, from whom Suzanne commissioned the album's title track, a set of variations.

She can also be heard on the CDs: The McCarron Brothers (& Sister) - Before All This (2023); CROSS ISLAND - Quiet Strength (2011); CROSS ISLAND—Explorations,  Robin Eve—Remembrance (2010); Hungrytown (self-titled album), Terry Winchell—Vice Versa , and Dave Raves and Mark McCarron—the Grammy-nominated In the Blue of My Dreams (2007); Alli Collis—Signal on the Starboard and Lauren Agnelli—Love Always Follows Me (2004); and Rebecca Hall—Sunday Afternoon (2002).