Playing the piano in front of an audience takes Susan Zhang to another place, forcing her outside herself.
“I like to plug into something beautiful that I believe in and that I like to share with others, and I think it is a very spiritual experience when you’re plugging in, and the audience is plugging in with you. It’s a special thing to do. It’s a humbling and amazing thing,” said Zhang, co-founder of The Concert Truck who will be playing at the University of South Carolina Aiken’s Etherredge Center at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8.
Zhang, who grew up in Augusta, started playing piano at the age of 6. At 12, she made her orchestral debut with the Augusta Symphony. She said she had several great teachers, and during her time at Augusta’s John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, Zhang began further studies with a professor at the University of South Carolina, which sealed her dream of a career in music.
“I knew I wanted to do this professionally. It was a very inspiring time for sure. I felt like this was mine,” she said.
She attended USC after graduating from Davidson in 2006 and received her bachelor’s degree in 2010. She continued to pursue her music education at the Eastman School of Music and Peabody Conservatory.
The idea for The Concert Truck came along around 2015. The Concert Truck is a 16-foot box truck that has been transformed into a fully functioning mobile concert hall with lights, a sound system and piano.
The idea for the truck belonged to Nick Luby, her business partner. He’d traveled to a lot of beautiful places that lacked live music. He thought it would be great to bring live music to those parks and other beautiful spaces he saw, she said. Most of his travels had been by boat, and concerts on the water didn’t make sense logistically, but a converted truck did.
“He had the idea, and I was good at executing it,” she said.
They received a grant from the University of South Carolina to jump start the effort, and since about 2016, they’ve traveled from coast to coast and all parts in between playing those beautiful venues.
Some of the more memorable locations have included the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, in Seattle and at several beaches with magnificent sunsets, she said.
Over the past few years, Zhang and Luby’s venture has grown with colleges and cultural organizations seeking to bring them into their areas. The demand has been so great that the duo now has a second truck. They can go to more areas and partner with other musicians.
Joining Zhang on her trip to Aiken is Mikael Darmanie, who Zhang calls “one hell of a musician.”
This will be the first time Zhang has ventured into the Augusta area with the Concert Truck although she’s been close to the area, performing Newberry, S.C. in 2021 and several times in Columbia. The week will include visits with area schoolchildren and a stop at Aiken’s Makin’ before the concert on the Etherredge Center stage.
She said she’s excited to see family and friends again and is looking forward to playing in the area.
“We’re going to put on a great show,” she said. “We’ll be playing ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ We’ll also be playing more lesser-known works. Mikael will be doing a little improvisation. It’s going to be a really great show.”
The concert will be the first event in the 2024-2025 Etherredge Center Cultural Series.
Other performances include “The Soul of Langston” at 7 p.m., Oct. 26; The Wildcards at 7 p.m., Nov. 9; YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan at 7 p.m., Feb. 11, 2025; Dallas Brass at 7 p.m. March 25, 2025; and SHARP Dance Company at 7 p.m., April 22, 2025.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
