shearn@overturema.org
Susan Hearn grew up moving with her family to cities all around the South and has been in the Nashville area since 1980. As the daughter of a church Minister of Music, singing and playing musical instruments was a normal part of family life. She was a member of choirs, bands, and ensembles at church and school and eventually went on to receive her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Belmont College (now Belmont University).
While in college, Susan began to teach church choirs in the primary grades. She has continued to do so for much of the past 40 years. She and her husband, Jim, a talented trumpet player, are members of Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville. They have 7 adult children, all of whom are musical even now into adulthood. The Hearns made sure their kids took piano lessons, sang in community choirs & church choir, and participated in middle Tennessee orchestras and homeschool bands as their kids grew up. Two of their sons have since earned Master’s degrees in Music Performance, specializing in trombone and oboe. While her children participated in the Nashville Children’s Choir, Susan served as support staff for the organization for more than 10 years.
During the last 30 years, while being centered around homeschooling their children, Susan taught general music classes for elementary and middle school students at their co-op, Teen Learning Center. In addition, one of her greatest joys for 10 years was being music director for the 7th-12th grade Broadway musical productions and providing a live orchestra theater experience for homeschool performers and their audience!
Susan has been a member of Nashville Opera Chorus Ensemble, and more recently, alongside her adult children, has been an ensemble member for several musicals at Springhouse Theatre Company in Smyrna. She has even joined the Adult Dance class at Studio Laugh, Love, Leap, where she is now learning to dance alongside her children!
Music has been an integral part of the Hearn family and is a gift they enjoy all together! Often, she can be found singing, making a rhythm band, and dancing in tutus with her grandchildren. She is delighted to be joining the Overture Music Academy community and looks forward to encouraging many more families in their discovery of the joy of lifelong music-making just as her family was the beneficiary of during their homeschooling journey!