Sue Anne Pinner

Professor

“I take great issue with the tired old axiom that says ’If you can’t do it, you teach it.’”

It’s been a whirlwind two years since Sue Anne Pinner arrived at SMC. “In those two years we’ve done three full operas with orchestra, which is just a phenomenal accomplishment,” says Sue Anne. “We’ve done The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and La Boheme. And the world of music in L.A. is pretty small. So word gets around and the quality of our students in opera is getting better and better. We’re getting into some world-class projects over here.”

Sue Anne plans to direct her fourth SMC opera this spring. “But my ultimate game plan is to form a company to perform American opera in Europe representing the college,” she says. “And I feel such hopefulness from everyone on the SMC campus,” she adds. “Everybody is so encouraging and as a result, everyone in our department is working to do some really unbelievable things.”

When the President of Lithuania visited SMC, Sue Anne added Lithuanian to “the ten or so languages” she sings in in order to lead an emotional crowd in that nation’s national anthem. “It was an incredibly beautiful moment for all of us,” says Sue Anne. Another “beautiful moment” occurred just recently when her recording of an album called “Ave Maria” became the best-selling record of classical sacred music in the nation. “With teaching, recording and directing,” says Sue Anne, “I feel the most incredible sense of balance in my life.”

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