Next in the series is Susan Lewis, a writer, producer and communications strategist.
Background & Career: Lewis is a writer, producer and communications strategist, who works with artists and nonprofit organizations in print, audio, and video to explore, highlight and tell the stories of creators and innovators.
Prior to her current work, she served as Senior Producer in Arts and Culture at NPR affiliate WRTI, Philadelphia’s only classical and jazz station, writing and producing arts stories, interviewing musicians and other artists for features and concert broadcasts, hosting live performances, and producing The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert Sunday series, among other responsibilities.
Lewis began her career as an attorney in New York with Milbank Tweed and then in-house counsel with United Satellite Communications, Inc. before moving to Philadelphia with her growing family. Prior to joining WRTI, she worked as a speechwriter for leaders in state government, and taught a course in entertainment law at Rutgers Law School.
As a writer, she contributed a column on work and family to Philadelphia Magazine, and essays to Readers Digest, Ladies Home Journal, Parents Magazine, and elsewhere. She is also the author of two books: “Reinventing Ourselves after Motherhood” and “What is a Kiss, Anyway?.”
Lewis earned a JD from NYU Law School and a BA in Philosophy from Trinity College in Hartford. She and her husband Joe Kluger – former President of The Philadelphia Orchestra, now a Principal with arts consulting firm WolfBrown – have four children and six grandchildren.
Music Involvement and Passion: Music has been an integral part of Lewis’s life since early childhood: she sang in church and school choirs, small musical ensembles, and musical theater productions through college and law school. As an adult, she immersed herself in classical music, attending countless concerts at The New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Believing that the study of music opens doors to another dimension of life, she enrolled her children in choirs; instrumental music lessons at Settlement Music School, with Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) Ballet bassoonist Shirley Curtiss, local jazz artist, Bill Munich; and a summer musical theater camp at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theater. All four children also were also members of The Rainbow Company, a diverse Philadelphia singing group.
“Music touches us deep in our souls, with its ability to comfort, inspire, and lift us up, whether we’re sad or joyful, stressed or unwinding, and it connects us with one another,” she says.
Learning about and getting involved in The Presser Foundation: Of course, the name Presser has been synonymous with sheet music for anyone in the Philadelphia region studying music or shepherding kids to music lessons, but Lewis learned more about the Foundation and its work from Bob Capanna, who, when President of the Presser Board of Trustees, invited her to get involved. She joined the Advancement of Music Committee in 2014 and became a Trustee in 2018.
Role: Advancement of Music Committee Member, DEI Committee Member
Favorite Part of Serving on the Board: Lewis loves working with a group of music lovers – Board and staff – who are passionate about the power of music. She also loves doing site visits, meeting and talking with grant applicants about their work creating opportunities for people to study and perform music.
How has the Foundation made a difference?: One memory that stands out is how the Foundation responded to the pandemic crisis to support musical organizations with general operating support on an expedited basis with special additional grants to enable grantees to continue to operate, as they shifted to online activities and creative outdoor experiences.
“In supporting a wide array of music and music education organizations throughout the Greater Philadelphia region, the Foundation empowers musicians and music groups to fulfill their missions, so that more people in every community can reap the benefits of music.”
Where do you see the Foundation in the next 5-10 years?: Lewis expects that as music, music education and the settings in which people hear and study music evolve – and as needs in the community change, the Foundation will continue to adapt its own process, staying true to the mission of Theodore Presser, and finding the best ways to support organizations that enable music to be part of people’s lives in all parts of the community.
What do you like to do for fun?: Lewis continues to find fun in writing personal essays and looking for good stories to tell. She also loves listening to music, dancing, and learning new music, and is currently taking an online piano course that teaches improvisation and chord theory with jazz and pop. She loves swimming, hiking and other outdoor activities. She also plays pickleball and gets a kick out of rediscovering the world through her grandchildren.
