Susan Filler

July 8th, 2018

I knew Sue from our student days at Northwestern, in the graduate division of the School of Music. We kept up a correspondence for many years but gradually stopped. I noticed a mention of Susan’s passing I believe in a Northwestern University alumni magazine several months ago. I want to express my condolences to Sue’s family.
I am from upstate New York and attended Syracuse University. I met Sue in the NU housing office in the fall of 1969 when we were both entering graduate students, Sue in musicology and I in oboe performance. We weren’t able to find a place together, but we became acquainted. I think we took one course together.
Back then in our student days, Sue was already extremely dedicated to her study of Mahler, and I knew that it would be her lifelong passion. I always thought of her as the “Mahler Scholar.” Her knowledge of music greatly outdistanced mine. I also remember that she was fluent in German. Once we went to a performance by the Chicago Lyric Opera of a comic opera, sung in German, the title of which evades me now. There were no sur titles at the time. I basically had no idea of what was actually happening, but she laughed throughout the whole performance, obviously understanding every word.
This was also the time of anti Viet Nam War protests, and Sue was a great peace advocate. So was I, but Sue was much more active. In the spring of 1970, I believe, Northwestern closed down because of student protests after the Kent State shootings. I remember that Sue said she was spending her days working on her projects and her evenings protesting. She knew how to get to places in Chicago, and she actually acted on her beliefs.
The other strong memory I have of Sue is that she was ardently devoted to her Jewish heritage and religion. She was a person of great faith. One year she invited me to be with her family for the second Seder of Passover. The other guest was a priest, I believe a Jesuit, who was a family friend. It was a beautiful, unforgettable experience; and I will always be grateful to Sue for sharing that with me.
I wound up playing in the Syracuse Symphony, and Sue completed her doctorate and took her place in the musicology world. She wrote me the first time that she had been invited to China to do some lectures on her work. I was so impressed by that, and I see that it was only the beginning. She has an impressive list of accomplishments, but I can imagine that she wasn’t finished.
I was fortunate to have known Sue, and I will be remembering her on her first anniversary and always.
Sincerely,
Pat Sharpe

~Patricia Sharpe
~Friend from Northwestern University, Syracuse, New York

July 26th, 2017

The photograph in Susan Filler’s obituary stopped me short. I didn’t know Dr. Filler by name, but she was a beloved, if infrequent, researcher in the Spertus Institute library where I work. When on a musicological quest she would bustle in, full of enthusiasm for the topic and zest for the search. It was always a pleasure to see Susan Filler step through the door, and we will miss her bright smile and good cheer. My colleague and I have plated the book, “The Music of the Mountain Jews (Eastern and Northern Caucasus)” in her memory.

~Kathy Bloch
~Librarian, Chicago

July 10th, 2017

I first became acquainted with Susan in the early ’80s when I was teaching in Milwaukee. We crossed paths semi-regularly at musicological society meetings over the years, at which times we would have a chat and occasionally share a meal. Our research interests differed very widely, so that hearing about her travels and discoveries always broadened my horizons and filled in gaps in my knowledge. Musicology is replete with interesting characters–and Susan was among the more memorable of them. I will miss her.

~John Snyder
~Colleague, Houston, TX