Jim Trankina describes himself as “one of the many fortunate students forever shaped by the remarkable Susan S. Starrett.”
There are many, indeed.
Through a career that spanned six-plus decades, more than 200 of Starrett’s violin and viola students earned All-State honors with the Illinois Music Education Association, and 23 became principals or concertmasters who, as Trankina points out, “have gone on to inspire others around the world.”
At least 15 of them were at Eagle Brook Country Club in Geneva on Friday evening to see their beloved teacher receive the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame.
To list Starrett’s accomplishments as a musician could easily fill this column space. In education alone, under her leadership Bryan Adams High School Orchestra in Dallas, Texas, was named best in the country in 1970 by the National Association for Music Education, a remarkable accomplishment she repeated in 1995 when conducting for York Township High School in Elmhurst.
Trankina, who was a member of that latter orchestra, gave credit to Starrett for teaching him excellence isn’t just about performance. “It’s about character, teamwork and faith,” he insisted, adding that even in a career which took him outside of music, “her influence still guides how I lead, serve and live today.”
It’s no surprise Starrett’s resume also includes Teacher of the Year at Proviso High Schools, Conductor of the Illinois All State Orchestra, Orchestra Director of the Year in Texas and Illinois, Elgin Youth Symphony Teacher of the Year, concertmaster for the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and other things.
But as Trankina pointed out, Starrett was a trailblazer even before her prolific career in the arts. While studying music and conducting at the University of Illinois, she reached the NCAA tournament finals in tennis and later competed against legends like Margaret Court and Billie Jean King.
Obviously, he said, “excellence has always been in her stride.”
That included founding the Fox Valley Youth Symphony after returning to Illinois from Texas in 1970. And for the past 25 years Starrett has served as president of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame, which showed its gratitude with an extended standing ovation from the audience of about 250 people at the nonprofit’s 2026 Induction Celebration last week.
Trankina was, of course, among them. So also was Kelly Barr and Stanley Konopka, both of whom were inducted into this latest Hall of Fame class.
Barr, whose impressive resume includes performing with the St. Louis and Boston symphony orchestras and teaching at the New England Conservatory, as well as with Project STEP for young musicians from historically underrepresented communities, praises Starrett for her dedication and perseverance. And she also describes her as that one special teacher who “had the most positive impact on my life.”
Because he was in Miami on tour as the assistant principal viola with the Cleveland Orchestra, Konopka delivered his acceptance speech remotely, describing how he fell in love with chamber music at age 13 while attending a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
It was not long after falling “to my knees” outside Symphony Center on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and declaring his intent to become a professional musician that the young Konopka – whose 35-year career would go on to include extensive international travel – began taking lessons with Starrett. And he credits her with teaching him what it took to achieve his dream career full-time at age 22.
“She is highly energized, highly intellectual, highly organized and she knows her data,” Konopka told me later in a Tuesday morning phone interview. “But she also knows how to deliver that information to different personalities, including a 14-year-old boy.”
“I am overwhelmed and honored,” Starrett said in her acceptance speech, a smile lighting her face as she looked upon a sea of people who believe, as she does, that we must preserve and protect original art at a time when its authenticity is under threat of slowly eroding.
“This award is very special … obviously I love this organization,” she said, noting with pride that ”this is the best crowd we’ve ever had.”
We all knew why.
“Her faith, humility and service remind us that teaching music doesn’t just create musicians,” Trankina noted in an earlier tribute to his beloved teacher. “It creates better people.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
