Gloria J Sussman Obituary
Gloria Sussman, longtime resident of Reston, VA, passed away on June 6, 2024 at the age of 99.
Gloria's life centered on her love of classical music. The "matriarch of Reston music," she was an accomplished pianist, piano teacher, vocal coach, conductor and a source of inspiration for hundreds of people.
She was born in Philadelphia, PA on September 1, 1924 to Armenian immigrants George and Elizabeth Y Jerjisian. She began playing piano at the age of 5. After graduating from the Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1941, she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1944 and a Master's in Education emphasizing music from the same school in 1945. She also studied at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music.
Gloria began her career in the public schools teaching children on the elementary and junior high levels. She also taught piano privately, became a church musician, and accompanied professional singers including Jan Gbur and Anita Darian.
Gloria said 1955 was a "banner year" during which she married fellow teacher Nathan Sussman, who taught mathematics and among other things played the guitar. The couple then moved to Connecticut so that Nate could get a degree in engineering.
The couple returned to the Philadelphia area in 1962 and Gloria continued to make music while raising their two sons. She taught piano, hosted chamber music get-togethers, was involved with the Jenkintown Music School, and accompanied singers including Lili Chookasian.
After moving to Reston VA in 1970, she continued an active role in local music making. This included teaching privately, becoming the accompanist / manager of the Reston Chorale and creating an amateur chamber music group. In the late 70's her declining vision forced her to cut back on musical activities, but rather than give up, she found new ways to continue a musical lifestyle. She coached the a cappella vocal group Musica Concordia, which sang in many venues and continued until the early 2000s. She played piano 4-hands from memory. The Chorale dedicated a concert in her honor in 1982.
Responding to her visual impairment, Gloria became a leader in low vision activism, first founding the Reston VIP (visually impaired persons) support group. She continued and expanded this work by facilitating three support groups for the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington for over 20 years. With the encouragement of her family, Gloria embraced the use of low vision assistive devices to partially compensate for her impaired vision, and shared this knowledge with all her support groups.
After Nate passed away in 1988, Gloria increasingly relied on her sons and many friends to remain in her Reston townhouse and continue her activities.
Gloria created and taught "The Ongoing Pleasures of Music" course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at George Mason University from 2000 through 2018. Each class had a unique theme and she took great care to select interesting repertoire and cultivate engaging discussion. Furthermore, she evolved the course to take advantage of developing technologies. The setting was a relaxed, informal gathering of classical music enthusiasts.
In celebration of her 90th birthday, her sons commissioned a piece for two violins and piano, "Sonata di Gloria" by Scott Solak, which was performed at her 90th birthday party by the Chamasyan sisters.
After moving to the Ashby Ponds retirement community in Ashburn VA in 2017, she was instrumental in establishing the community's low vision awareness group.
She is survived by her two sons, Ted and Bob Sussman, sister Carol Churukian, daughter-in-law Lisa E Freed, and grandchildren Sara and Rachel Freed Sussman.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to:
Reston Chorale: https://www.restonchorale.org
Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington: https://secure.givelively.org
