Susan Frykberg was a sound-artist/composer and poet whose stated goal was "to balance chi-rho spirituality, creativity and social justice." Her works have been heard in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia and Australasia. In addition to her sound-art works, Susan composed for a variety of combinations of electroacoustics, instruments, and chant. Some of this work can be heard on her CD Astonishing Sense, available from earsay.com, and on streaming services. One work from the album, "Astonishing Sense of Being Taken Over by Something Far Greater Than Me," for electroacoustics and violin, was performed at the Congress for the International Alliance of Women Musicians in Beijing in 2008.

Susan has combined Gregorian chant with Ableton Live in the works "Salve Regina Electronica" - (New Zealand Electroacoustic Symposium at Auckland University 2009) and "Ubi Caritas Electronica" - (9th International Festival of Women Composers in Indiana, Pennsylvania, 2010). Other notable works include "Suffering", for Ableton Live, giant shadow puppets, and live signal processing, (Australasian Computer Music Conference, Auckland, 2011). In 2010-11, Susan worked with improvising musicians who played a range of instruments from classical to indigenous to electronic, in an ensemble called Let the Art Sing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Wwj6O4cFc .They came together under Susan's direction to create structured improvisation around high quality art. During this time she also produced a semi-regular radio show for Radio New Zealand on electroacoustic music. These were thematically based, dealing with such issues as world music, spiritual and sacred music and protest music. Most of these are still available as podcasts from Radio New Zealand.

Susan's spiritual and social justice leanings were satisfied in her later years by her work at Urban Seed, The Big Issue, and the Carmelite Library, (coordinator of a spiritual reading group). Susan was a citizen of Canada and New Zealand and held degrees in experimental music and theatre, ancient languages, and theology. She is a member of the Canadian Music Centre, The New Zealand Music Centre (SOUNZ) and SOCAN, and was a founding member of both The World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community.

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ASTONISHING SENSE OF BEING TAKEN OVER BY SOMETHING FAR GREATER THAN ME - CD reviews 
 “an emotional chisel… sonically expressing something that is inexpressible, and ultimately beyond mere words or music.” —Mark Parlett, eContact
• “… primal, cathartic… its frenetic sounds will certainly get your heart racing in short order. All [tracks] are tremendously powerful…” —George Zahora, splendidezine
• “a tour de force in both composition and subject… sumptuous and dynamic sound textures throughout.” —Anna Rubin, Computer Music Journal

Alleluia - a New Werk - Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill St., Wellington May 2009 - Pepe Becker’s Baroque Voices Ensemble

Susan Frykberg’s all-male-voice setting of words from Dante’s Paradiso........ was very much in traditional chant-style, with an exotic Eastern flavour, the basses delivering a cantor-like opening and the tenors taking up the thread with closely-worked repetitions...  It all fitted in beautifully with the concert’s overall conception. Peter Mechen 


REVIEW OF NEW WORK 'SUFFERING' ACMC 2011
“ The rest of the concert consisted of …………..  Suffering, a ritual piece by Susan Frykberg, from Whanganui, which featured gorgeous sounds and ritual actions by two actors, including pouring water, crucifixion, embracing, and reciting words.  Frykberg's very enjoyable piece combined elaborate sounds with sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure theological imagery. The juxtaposition struck me as both moving and strange, a combination I hadn't experienced before, and one I found most inviting.Warren Burt
http://www.warrenburt.com/acmc-2011-a-review/