Finding Her Voice: Susan “Rosie” Greenstein, President of the Board of Directors at UVMC

Susan “Rosie” Greenstein grew up near New York City in an area with abundant music opportunities. “Before Kindergarten, my mother brought me to a children’s music class much like today’s Music Together classes,” Greenstein said. “Later, as chorus members in junior high school, we were bussed in for opera dress rehearsals at the Met.”

She recalls her mother playing piano after she got her three kids to bed. “She was playing Chopin,” Greenstein said. “I was maybe 5 years old and I crept out of bed to listen to her play. I whispered, ‘I want to do that.’”

So she did. Greenstein, her sister, and her mother played piano — there were eventually two pianos in the home — and her brother played the cello. Lots of family duets and trios kept things lively. Greenstein later added string bass and the bassoon in order to participate in band and orchestra.

Greenstein, a retired English professor, moved to West Lebanon, New Hampshire in 2011. “I had been singing in community choruses for almost 20 years. I wanted to join Bel Canto, an auditioned chorus, but felt I needed to up my game. I started to look for a voice teacher on the Internet and found Upper Valley Music Center’s website and teacher Jennifer Hansen.”

Within six months, with Hansen’s encouragement, Greenstein felt ready to audition for Bel Canto and was accepted mid-season. “Hansen brought new musicality from me,” said Greenstein, who continued music lessons at UVMC for seven years even though her original goal had simply been to get into the choral group.

She discovered the joys of being partnered for duets, taking master classes, and singing in recitals — all benefits of being a music center student. Soon she was going to UVMC children’s concerts to hear a young neighbor, a budding cellist. Her attendance and enthusiasm were noticed, and Greenstein was invited to be on the Board of Directors in 2020.

“UVMC is here for people in my moment of life as well as for children who were not getting the opportunities in music we had decades ago. This was foundational for me,” Greenstein said. “All ages and all abilities are accommodated and nurtured. I love what we do here as a community music center.”

As president of the Board, Greenstein is dedicated building on current strengths, which includes increasing capacity for students of all ages, continuing to hire and retain the best faculty, and growing the support and endowment funds required to make it all possible.

“UVMC will be a reason why people come to the Upper Valley,” she said. “Our excellent, wide-ranging music education programs — with a mission of building community — will be a beacon and enticement.”