2017 Faculty Artists

Vladimir Feltsman

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 21st-century composers. He has appeared with all the major American orchestras and on the...

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Olga Kern

Russian-American pianist Olga Kern is now recognized as one of her generation’s great pianists. She jumpstarted her U.S. career with her historic Gold Medal win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas as the first woman to do so in more...

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Simone Dinnerstein

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The New York-based pianist gained an international following with the remarkable success of her recording of...

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Leon Fleisher

“You can’t see music as it passes through the air.  You can’t grasp it and hold on to it.  You can’t smell it. You can’t taste it.  But it has a most powerful effect on most people.  And that is a wondrous thing to contemplate.” As a recipient of the Kennedy Center...

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James Giles

James Giles regularly performs in important musical centers in America, Europe, and Asia. Recent tours have taken him to the Nancy Music Festival in France, the Accademia Cristofori in Florence, the Gijon Piano Festival in Spain, and the Beijing International Music...

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Sergei Babayan

"Technical brilliance and imaginative delight..." London TimesOnLine Hailed for his emotional intensity, bold energy and remarkable levels of color, Sergei Babayan brings a deep understanding and insight to a stylistically diverse repertoire, which includes a...

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John Perry

John Perry, distinguished artist and teacher, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of Cecile Genhart. During those summers, he worked with the eminent Frank Mannheimer. Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship,...

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Yong Hi Moon

Accomplished pianist and teacher Yong Hi Moon made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 10 as winner of the National Korean Broadcasting Competition. Ms. Moon has won top prizes in the Elena-Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Viotti International...

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Alexander Korsantia

Pianist Alexander Korsantia has won great critical acclaim for his versatility, power and the unique sincerity of his playing. He can be heard performing in many of the world’s foremost concert halls collaborating with renowned artists such as Valery Gergiev,...

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Bernadene Blaha

Bernadene Blaha's “brilliant command of the piano”, whether featured as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician, has been heralded in performances throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Mexico. Piano and Keyboard magazine has reviewed her as “a...

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Dan Tepfer

Dan Tepfer has made a name for himself as a pianist-composer of wide-ranging ambition, individuality and drive — “a remarkable musician” in the words of the Washington Post and one “who refuses to set himself limits” in those of France’s Télérama. The New York...

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Mark Rabideau

Panel member: starting your career + what it means to be a musician in the 21st century Mark Rabideau is a cultural entrepreneur, busy re-imagining how we must prepare musicians to thrive within the shifting marketplace and cultural landscape of the contemporary...

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Nelita True

Since Nelita True made her debut at age seventeen with the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall and her New York debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, her career has taken her to the major cities of Western and Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Korea, Japan,...

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Kevin Kenner

The year 1990 was a milestone for pianist Kevin Kenner, whose artistry was recognized throughout the world by three prestigious awards: the top prize at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (together with the Peoples’ Prize and prize for the best Polonaise),...

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Dennis Thurmond

Dennis Thurmond is a master of free improvisation both in the classical and jazz realms. His signature performances and lectures feature his creation of improvised works in historic styles ranging from Czerny to present day.  A classical and jazz pianist, as well as a...

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Stewart Goodyear

Proclaimed "a phenomenon" by the Los Angeles Times and "one of the best pianists of his generation" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished young pianist as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and composer. Mr. Goodyear has...

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Dai Uk Lee

Born in Seoul, Korea, Dai Uk Lee began piano lessons with his mother at the age of five and made orchestral debut at the age of ten with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. After a successful early career as a pianist in Korea, he moved to the USA to study at the Juilliard...

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Robert Weirich

Robert Weirich is one of America’s most sought-after piano teachers and has been on the faculty of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance since 1998 where he holds the Jack Strandberg Missouri Endowed Chair in Piano. His students pursue successful careers in many...

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Tom Stone

Panel member: starting your career + what it means to be a musician in the 21st century Tom Stone was born in Chicago, where he studied music with Hilel Kagan.  At age 16 he attended Tanglewood where he coached with Eugene Lehner of the Kolisch Quartet and played in...

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William Grant Naboré

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, William Grant Naboré began his formal piano studies at age 8 with Kathleen Kelly Coxe. Two years later, he was accepted at Hollins College as a special student of the noted musicologist Anne McClenny. At 17 he won a scholarship from the...

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