A life built around music may be the best way to sum up Sue Riley. Sue was drawn to music from the age of five when her Grandfather, Waldo, started helping her with piano. Sue always knew that music would be her life’s calling. She began playing in churches at age eleven, was guest organist for a services here when she was thirteen and started giving private piano lessons at age eighteen. Believing in the power of music to touch hearts and heal lives, Sue continues to mentor, teach, and share music through a wide variety of means.
Sue is an owner of emPower Music & Arts, along with Russ Hammock, Richard Mekdeci, and Russell Brumfield with the mission of “Changing the World, One Song at a Time.” Empower hosts the yearly Posi Awards, which recognize excellence in songwriting for artists who create songs with messages of peace, oneness, and joyous living. The annual Posi Fest is in its eleventh year and is now held in Tampa, Florida.
A prolific singer songwriter herself, Sue has created eight CDs of original uplifting Posi music, along with numerous songbooks. Her newest CD “Ready to Receive” was produced by Daniel Nahmod and contains “Grandpa’s Hands” a musical tribute to her grandfather that recently won a First Place Gold Medal in the SAW song competition from Washington, DC.
She has been involved in the music program of Unity Church of Clearwater, Florida, for the past 28+ years, where she oversees Unity Clearwater Band and the Unity Singers, and continues to encourage the members of our music ministry to seek out their musical gifts and to find their own voices.
Sue chaired the Music Ministry Team of Unity Worldwide Ministries for more than a decade. Through her leadership, the team created ten songbooks of Positive New Thought Music, an online choral library, and created the Sound Connections Music Conference that has now been taken on by emPower Music and Arts. This conference provides practical hands-on training for turning church music departments into music ministries. Sue is often sought out by New Thought and Unity churches for her guidance and insights – she is golden for any music project and has co-written a handbook on music ministry that is treasured in many churches.
Sue wrote the music for twelve songs (in twelve different keys!) in the music and meditation CD set, Twelve Women of the Chalice, along with our Sr. Minister, Leddy Hammock, who wrote the lyrics and wrote and recorded the meditations. This is a companion CD to Leddy’s book. The Twelve Women of the Chalice, about twelve women of scripture who, in their own ways, participated in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Find these treasures in our bookstore, along with all of Sue’s eight gorgeous CDs! Don’t miss her latest: “Ready to Receive” – you will love it!
Sue tours the country performing in the emPower “PosiPalooza” concerts that bring Posi Award Winning artists together in a unique, uplifting format where the artists swap songs in an organic musical conversation. To date, they have produced over 300 of these concerts in the US and Canada to rave reviews. Watch for announcements on our newsletters to make sure you don’t miss any of these great events! Oh, and Sue created our opening song, “House Built on Love,” especially for us! We love our Sue!