Susan is a choral director and music educator. She studied at The Royal Northern College of Music. In 1990 she was awarded a Churchill fellowship for her work with choirs. In 2008, she won The BBC Choir of the Year with The Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir. 2013 she received a Royal Philharmonic Award for co-directing Cycle Song for the Cultural Olympiad which was an opera performed by 1500 participants.
She is Conductor Emeritus of the Sine Nomine International Touring and conducts the Lydian Choir and Scunthorpe Choral Society. She has conducted choirs at The Presteigne Contemporary Music Festival, the Three Choirs Festival, The Albert Hall, The Sydney Olympics, Lincoln cathedral and various festivals abroad. She is in demand as a conductor trainer, workshop leader and choir trainer. Susan is a Vice-president of abcd and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bishop Grosseteste for her work in music education. In 2019 she was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to music.