Joyce Yang, Featured Artist
Blessed with “poetic and sensitive pianism” (Washington Post) and a “wondrous sense of color” (San Francisco Classical Voice), pianist Joyce Yang captivates audiences with her virtuosity, lyricism, and interpretive sensitivity. As a Van Cliburn International Piano Competition silver medalist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, Yang showcases her colorful musical personality in solo recitals and collaborations with the world’s top orchestras and chamber musicians.
Yang came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest contestant at 19 years old, she took home two additional awards: the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music (with the Takàcs Quartet) and the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for Best Performance of a New Work.
Since her spectacular debut, she has blossomed into an “astonishing artist” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). She has performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Sydney, New Jersey, and Toronto symphony orchestras, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the BBC Philharmonic (among many others), working with such distinguished conductors as Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Manfred Honeck, Jacques Lacombe, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Bramwell Tovey, Peter Oundjian, and Jaap van Zweden. In recital, Yang has taken the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Museum, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago’s Symphony Hall and Zurich’s Tonhalle.
In the 2017/2018 season, Yang embarks on a journey of debuts, collaborations, and premieres. Highlights include her 12th consecutive appearance as a guest artist at the Aspen Music Festival, her debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under Edo De Waart performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in five New Zealand cities, a reunion with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three performances of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and her first collaboration with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet on a new work for dancers and solo piano choreographed by Jorma Elo. The work will receive its world premiere in Aspen (March 24) with repeat engagements in Santa Fe (March 31), Costa Mesa (April 4-5) and Los Angeles (April 7).
This season Yang will also perform alongside the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Allentown Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, and Asheville Symphony. She continues her enduring partnership with longtime collaborators Alexander String Quartet with performances of works by Schumann and Brahms in California and New York.
Recent recordings include Yang and Hadelich’s collaborative Works for Violin and Piano for Avie Records (“One can only sit in misty-eyed amazement at their insightful flair and spontaneity,” – The Strad) and the world premiere recording of Michael Torke’s Piano Concerto, created expressly for Yang and commissioned by the Albany Symphony. Yang has also “demonstrated impressive gifts” (New York Times) with the release of Wild Dreams (Avie Records), on which she plays Schumann, Bartók, Hindemith, Rachmaninoff, and arrangements by Earl Wild; a pairing of the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets with the Alexander Quartet; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Denmark’s Odense Symphony Orchestra that International Record Review called “hugely enjoyable, beautifully shaped … a performance that marks her out as an enormous talent.” Of her 2011 debut album for Avie Records, Collage, featuring works by Scarlatti, Liebermann, Debussy, Currier, and Schumann, Gramophone praised her “imaginative programming” and “beautifully atmospheric playing.”
Other recent season highlights include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Charleston Symphony. She was featured in a five-year Rachmaninoff cycle with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, to which she brought “an enormous palette of colors, and tremendous emotional depth” (Milwaukee Sentinel Journal). Yang has joined the Takács Quartet for Dvorak in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series and impressed the New York Times with her “vivid and beautiful playing” of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet with members of the Emerson String Quartet at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. She has performed solo recitals across the United States and Canada, including a recent performance at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills that was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “extraordinary” and “kaleidoscopic.”
Yang has fostered enduring partnerships with the Alexander String Quartet, with whom she has recorded the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets (recent appearances in New York and Charlottesville) and violinist Augustin Hadelich (recent appearances in Palm Desert, La Jolla, Costa Mesa, Santa Barbara, Saint Paul, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Hong Kong). “It was hard to imagine finer performances by any violin-and-piano pairing,” wrote The Dallas Morning News of one of Yang and Hadelich’s recent recitals.
Born in 1986 in Seoul, South Korea, Yang received her first piano lesson from her aunt at the age of four. She quickly took to the instrument, which she received as a birthday present, and over the next few years won several national piano competitions in her native country. By the age of ten, she had entered the School of Music at the Korea National University of Arts, and went on to make a number of concerto and recital appearances in Seoul and Daejeon. In 1997, Yang moved to the United States to begin studies at the pre-college division of the Juilliard School with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. During her first year at Juilliard, Yang won the pre-college division Concerto Competition, resulting in a performance of Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D with the Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Orchestra. After winning the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield Student Competition, she performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with that orchestra at just twelve years old. She graduated from Juilliard with special honor as the recipient of the school’s 2010 Arthur Rubinstein Prize, and in 2011 she won its 30th Annual William A. Petschek Piano Recital Award.
Yang made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut with Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall in November 2006 and performed on the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. Subsequent appearances with the Philharmonic included the opening night of the Leonard Bernstein Festival in September 2008, at the special request of Maazel in his final season as music director. The New York Timespronounced her performance in Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety a “knockout.”
Yang appears in the film In the Heart of Music, a documentary about the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She is a Steinway artist.
Yang came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest contestant at 19 years old, she took home two additional awards: the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music (with the Takàcs Quartet) and the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for Best Performance of a New Work.
Since her spectacular debut, she has blossomed into an “astonishing artist” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). She has performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Sydney, New Jersey, and Toronto symphony orchestras, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the BBC Philharmonic (among many others), working with such distinguished conductors as Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Manfred Honeck, Jacques Lacombe, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Bramwell Tovey, Peter Oundjian, and Jaap van Zweden. In recital, Yang has taken the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Museum, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago’s Symphony Hall and Zurich’s Tonhalle.
In the 2017/2018 season, Yang embarks on a journey of debuts, collaborations, and premieres. Highlights include her 12th consecutive appearance as a guest artist at the Aspen Music Festival, her debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under Edo De Waart performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in five New Zealand cities, a reunion with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three performances of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and her first collaboration with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet on a new work for dancers and solo piano choreographed by Jorma Elo. The work will receive its world premiere in Aspen (March 24) with repeat engagements in Santa Fe (March 31), Costa Mesa (April 4-5) and Los Angeles (April 7).
This season Yang will also perform alongside the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Allentown Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, and Asheville Symphony. She continues her enduring partnership with longtime collaborators Alexander String Quartet with performances of works by Schumann and Brahms in California and New York.
Recent recordings include Yang and Hadelich’s collaborative Works for Violin and Piano for Avie Records (“One can only sit in misty-eyed amazement at their insightful flair and spontaneity,” – The Strad) and the world premiere recording of Michael Torke’s Piano Concerto, created expressly for Yang and commissioned by the Albany Symphony. Yang has also “demonstrated impressive gifts” (New York Times) with the release of Wild Dreams (Avie Records), on which she plays Schumann, Bartók, Hindemith, Rachmaninoff, and arrangements by Earl Wild; a pairing of the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets with the Alexander Quartet; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Denmark’s Odense Symphony Orchestra that International Record Review called “hugely enjoyable, beautifully shaped … a performance that marks her out as an enormous talent.” Of her 2011 debut album for Avie Records, Collage, featuring works by Scarlatti, Liebermann, Debussy, Currier, and Schumann, Gramophone praised her “imaginative programming” and “beautifully atmospheric playing.”
Other recent season highlights include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Charleston Symphony. She was featured in a five-year Rachmaninoff cycle with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, to which she brought “an enormous palette of colors, and tremendous emotional depth” (Milwaukee Sentinel Journal). Yang has joined the Takács Quartet for Dvorak in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series and impressed the New York Times with her “vivid and beautiful playing” of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet with members of the Emerson String Quartet at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. She has performed solo recitals across the United States and Canada, including a recent performance at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills that was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “extraordinary” and “kaleidoscopic.”
Yang has fostered enduring partnerships with the Alexander String Quartet, with whom she has recorded the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets (recent appearances in New York and Charlottesville) and violinist Augustin Hadelich (recent appearances in Palm Desert, La Jolla, Costa Mesa, Santa Barbara, Saint Paul, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Hong Kong). “It was hard to imagine finer performances by any violin-and-piano pairing,” wrote The Dallas Morning News of one of Yang and Hadelich’s recent recitals.
Born in 1986 in Seoul, South Korea, Yang received her first piano lesson from her aunt at the age of four. She quickly took to the instrument, which she received as a birthday present, and over the next few years won several national piano competitions in her native country. By the age of ten, she had entered the School of Music at the Korea National University of Arts, and went on to make a number of concerto and recital appearances in Seoul and Daejeon. In 1997, Yang moved to the United States to begin studies at the pre-college division of the Juilliard School with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. During her first year at Juilliard, Yang won the pre-college division Concerto Competition, resulting in a performance of Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D with the Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Orchestra. After winning the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield Student Competition, she performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with that orchestra at just twelve years old. She graduated from Juilliard with special honor as the recipient of the school’s 2010 Arthur Rubinstein Prize, and in 2011 she won its 30th Annual William A. Petschek Piano Recital Award.
Yang made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut with Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall in November 2006 and performed on the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. Subsequent appearances with the Philharmonic included the opening night of the Leonard Bernstein Festival in September 2008, at the special request of Maazel in his final season as music director. The New York Timespronounced her performance in Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety a “knockout.”
Yang appears in the film In the Heart of Music, a documentary about the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She is a Steinway artist.
Deborah Rambo Sinn, Clinician
Dr. Deborah Rambo Sinn’s diverse career has taken her around the world. She has given concerts and master classes on four continents and has taught students from more than 14 different countries. She lived in Hamburg Germany for five years where she played concerts and musicals and operated two music studios for coaching and private instruction.
Her performing career includes giving concerts and masterclasses in four major cities with her piano/cello duo by invitation of the government of Mainland China. In addition to a lifetime of playing classical music, she has played for productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, and Mikado.
During Spring Term, 2015, she served as the Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Professor in Humanities at Missouri University for Science and Technology. She has served on the faculties of other universities and colleges as well, including one summer term as an exchange professor at Universität Lüneburg, Germany.
Currently, she is the Interim Editor-in-Chief and the Director of Online Content and Operations for Clavier Companion Magazine. She continues to be in high demand as a pianist and lecturer and maintains a private studio (in person and via Skype/FaceTime) in Post Falls, Idaho.
She holds a doctorate from Indiana University, where she studied with Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio). Before moving to Germany, she served on the music faculty of Angelo State University in Texas and taught one semester at Universität Lüneburg (Germany) as an exchange professor.
Dr. Sinn is the author of Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianist's Guide to Musical Interpretation, published by Oxford University Press in 2013 (10th printing), widely used in university music programs and independent studios across the US, Canada, and Europe.
Her performing career includes giving concerts and masterclasses in four major cities with her piano/cello duo by invitation of the government of Mainland China. In addition to a lifetime of playing classical music, she has played for productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, and Mikado.
During Spring Term, 2015, she served as the Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Professor in Humanities at Missouri University for Science and Technology. She has served on the faculties of other universities and colleges as well, including one summer term as an exchange professor at Universität Lüneburg, Germany.
Currently, she is the Interim Editor-in-Chief and the Director of Online Content and Operations for Clavier Companion Magazine. She continues to be in high demand as a pianist and lecturer and maintains a private studio (in person and via Skype/FaceTime) in Post Falls, Idaho.
She holds a doctorate from Indiana University, where she studied with Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio). Before moving to Germany, she served on the music faculty of Angelo State University in Texas and taught one semester at Universität Lüneburg (Germany) as an exchange professor.
Dr. Sinn is the author of Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianist's Guide to Musical Interpretation, published by Oxford University Press in 2013 (10th printing), widely used in university music programs and independent studios across the US, Canada, and Europe.
Nancy Bachus, Clinician
Nancy Bachus is an internationally known teacher who has been a featured clinician at numerous piano teacher meetings and conferences. She has presented in 45 states, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and China. She has been featured at the National Music Teachers Conference, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, The European Piano Teachers Association, and the Australasian Pedagogy Conference as well as many state and local music organizations. Certified as a Master Teacher by MTNA, Nancy has more than 30 years of teaching experience at the college and university levels, and also taught at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. She was named an MTNA Fellow in 2011 for her outstanding contributions to the field of music.
She is the author of the highly acclaimed Baroque Spirit, Classical Spirit, Romantic Spirit, and Beyond the Romantic Spirit piano anthologies; the Exploring Piano Classics series; three collections of music by Edward MacDowell; and is a co-author of Great Music & Musicians, Books 1 and 2: outlines of music history and piano composers and literature. An Associate Editor for Clavier Companion magazine, she has published numerous articles in Clavier, Keyboard Companion, and a series of 18 articles in an "Athletes at the Keyboard" column for Junior Keynotes, a National Federation of Music Clubs magazine.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Nancy studied with pianist Eugene List and accompanist Brooks Smith, and more recently she coached with Fernando Laires. Nancy was one of the performers in the original "Monster Concerts" in New York City (Lincoln Center, Radio City and Carnegie Hall), the White House and on the two "Monster Concert" recordings. She served on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society and was editor of its newsletter for many years.
Currently, Nancy is on the faculty at Cleveland State University and maintains a private piano studio in Hudson, Ohio. She has had numerous prize-winning students, many with professional music careers, and has also taught many piano teachers in her area.
She is the author of the highly acclaimed Baroque Spirit, Classical Spirit, Romantic Spirit, and Beyond the Romantic Spirit piano anthologies; the Exploring Piano Classics series; three collections of music by Edward MacDowell; and is a co-author of Great Music & Musicians, Books 1 and 2: outlines of music history and piano composers and literature. An Associate Editor for Clavier Companion magazine, she has published numerous articles in Clavier, Keyboard Companion, and a series of 18 articles in an "Athletes at the Keyboard" column for Junior Keynotes, a National Federation of Music Clubs magazine.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Nancy studied with pianist Eugene List and accompanist Brooks Smith, and more recently she coached with Fernando Laires. Nancy was one of the performers in the original "Monster Concerts" in New York City (Lincoln Center, Radio City and Carnegie Hall), the White House and on the two "Monster Concert" recordings. She served on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society and was editor of its newsletter for many years.
Currently, Nancy is on the faculty at Cleveland State University and maintains a private piano studio in Hudson, Ohio. She has had numerous prize-winning students, many with professional music careers, and has also taught many piano teachers in her area.
Laura Brown, Clinician
Laura Brown, PhD, MT-BC, Assistant Professor of Music Therapy, joined the faculty at Ohio University in the Fall of 2014. Dr. Brown holds a Bachelor of Music Therapy degree from Appalachian State University (2003), a Masters of Music Therapy degree from Appalachian State University (2009), and a PhD in Music and Human Learning from The University of Texas at Austin (2012).
Her college teaching experience includes teaching at Western Illinois University and serving as a teaching assistant at The University of Texas at Austin and at Appalachian State University. Her clinical experience includes working in both private practice and public school settings with children and adults with disabilities, as well as with older adults.
Dr. Brown’s primary research interests include music with children with developmental disabilities and children with autism. Her research has been published in the Journal of Music Therapy. Dr. Brown is an active member of the American Music Therapy Association and an active presenter at regional and national music education and music therapy conferences.
Her college teaching experience includes teaching at Western Illinois University and serving as a teaching assistant at The University of Texas at Austin and at Appalachian State University. Her clinical experience includes working in both private practice and public school settings with children and adults with disabilities, as well as with older adults.
Dr. Brown’s primary research interests include music with children with developmental disabilities and children with autism. Her research has been published in the Journal of Music Therapy. Dr. Brown is an active member of the American Music Therapy Association and an active presenter at regional and national music education and music therapy conferences.
Christopher Fisher, Clinician
Dr. Christopher Fisher is Professor of Piano at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he chairs the Keyboard Division and directs the graduate piano performance and pedagogy degree programs. He also serves as Director of Studies for the Ohio University Honors Tutorial College Music Program. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010), the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. A Chinese translation of Teaching Piano in Groupsis also available. Dr. Fisher is the co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016). He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari® method (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.
In demand as a workshop clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures nationally and internationally, including the National Conferences of the Music Teachers National Association (Washington, D.C., 2001; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007; Atlanta, 2009; San Antonio, Texas, 2016), the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (Lombard, Illinois, 2013 and 2017), the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (Norman, Oklahoma, 2006; Austin, Texas, 2010), the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (Canberra, Australia, 2008), Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba (Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2016) and the American Music Therapy Association (Orlando, Florida, 2005). He has served as a guest lecturer at leading universities and conservatories across the U.S.
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet and duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. The Fisher Piano Duo was awarded first prize in the Adult Duo Division of the Graves Piano and Organ Company/OhioMTA Piano Competition in 2007. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
Dr. Fisher is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and has served as Vice-President for Conferences and Vice-President for Membership for the Ohio Music Teachers Association; he presently serves as Collegiate Chapter Chair. He is the faculty advisor for the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA, which was the recipient of the 2015 MTNA Benjamin Whitten Collegiate Chapter Award. Dr. Fisher maintains a studio of pre-college students who have been successful at state and regional piano competitions and festivals. He frequently serves as an adjudicator and master class clinician at piano festivals throughout the United States and abroad.
Devoted to connecting young people with the transformative power of classical music, Dr. Fisher founded and directs Project Inspirare (www.projectinspirare.org), with assistance from the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA. Project Inspirare's mission is to cultivate a passion for classical music in current and future generations through special outreach and engagement initiatives.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University and Northwest Missouri State University. He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship. His piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Edward Gates, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Julie Bees, Sylvia Coats, Richard Bobo, and Betty Preston.
Dr. Fisher resides in Albany, Ohio with his wife Katherine and their children Isaiah and Anna.
www.chrisfisherpiano.com
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010), the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. A Chinese translation of Teaching Piano in Groupsis also available. Dr. Fisher is the co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016). He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari® method (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.
In demand as a workshop clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures nationally and internationally, including the National Conferences of the Music Teachers National Association (Washington, D.C., 2001; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007; Atlanta, 2009; San Antonio, Texas, 2016), the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (Lombard, Illinois, 2013 and 2017), the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (Norman, Oklahoma, 2006; Austin, Texas, 2010), the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (Canberra, Australia, 2008), Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba (Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2016) and the American Music Therapy Association (Orlando, Florida, 2005). He has served as a guest lecturer at leading universities and conservatories across the U.S.
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet and duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. The Fisher Piano Duo was awarded first prize in the Adult Duo Division of the Graves Piano and Organ Company/OhioMTA Piano Competition in 2007. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
Dr. Fisher is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and has served as Vice-President for Conferences and Vice-President for Membership for the Ohio Music Teachers Association; he presently serves as Collegiate Chapter Chair. He is the faculty advisor for the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA, which was the recipient of the 2015 MTNA Benjamin Whitten Collegiate Chapter Award. Dr. Fisher maintains a studio of pre-college students who have been successful at state and regional piano competitions and festivals. He frequently serves as an adjudicator and master class clinician at piano festivals throughout the United States and abroad.
Devoted to connecting young people with the transformative power of classical music, Dr. Fisher founded and directs Project Inspirare (www.projectinspirare.org), with assistance from the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA. Project Inspirare's mission is to cultivate a passion for classical music in current and future generations through special outreach and engagement initiatives.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University and Northwest Missouri State University. He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship. His piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Edward Gates, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Julie Bees, Sylvia Coats, Richard Bobo, and Betty Preston.
Dr. Fisher resides in Albany, Ohio with his wife Katherine and their children Isaiah and Anna.
www.chrisfisherpiano.com
Katherine Fisher, Clinician
Katherine Fisher is on the faculty of the Athens Community Music School at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Her responsibilities include teaching private piano lessons as well as coordinating the Piano Safari Program (group lessons) for children who are beginners at the instrument.
Katherine Fisher is the co-author of the highly acclaimed Piano Safari® method (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano students and teachers around the globe. She is a member of the Fisher PIano Duo with husband Christopher Fisher. The duo has performed throughout the United States. Together, the Fishers have co-authored the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016).
Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, having most recently served as recording secretary for the OhioMTA. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice- President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.
A native of Ohio, Katherine received her degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance). Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.
Katherine Fisher is the co-author of the highly acclaimed Piano Safari® method (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano students and teachers around the globe. She is a member of the Fisher PIano Duo with husband Christopher Fisher. The duo has performed throughout the United States. Together, the Fishers have co-authored the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016).
Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, having most recently served as recording secretary for the OhioMTA. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice- President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.
A native of Ohio, Katherine received her degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance). Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.
Julie Knerr, Clinician
Dr. Julie Knerr teaches piano at her home studio in Windsor, Connecticut. She was formerly on the piano faculty at the Hartt Community Division in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Before returning to her home state of Connecticut, Julie taught applied piano, piano pedagogy, and group piano as a faculty member at the University of Missouri, Oklahoma City University, and Ohio University.
Julie holds a PhD in Music Education with an Emphasis in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, where her dissertation on elementary level piano technique was nominated for the Best PhD Dissertation Award in 2006. Additional degrees include MM degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Dr. Knerr studied piano and harpsichord; and a BM in Piano Performance from the University of Puget Sound. Her mentors in Piano Pedagogy include Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Christos Tsitsaros, and Reid Alexander.
As an accomplished collaborative pianist, Julie enjoys performing with both instrumentalists and singers. Her former piano teachers include Duane Hulbert, James Barbagallo, William Heiles, Timothy Ehlen, and Edward Gates.
Julie is a frequent adjudicator at festivals and competitions throughout the United States. Her current research interests include elementary level piano technique, lesser known pre-college piano repertoire, and group piano pedagogy.
Before returning to her home state of Connecticut, Julie taught applied piano, piano pedagogy, and group piano as a faculty member at the University of Missouri, Oklahoma City University, and Ohio University.
Julie holds a PhD in Music Education with an Emphasis in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, where her dissertation on elementary level piano technique was nominated for the Best PhD Dissertation Award in 2006. Additional degrees include MM degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Dr. Knerr studied piano and harpsichord; and a BM in Piano Performance from the University of Puget Sound. Her mentors in Piano Pedagogy include Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Christos Tsitsaros, and Reid Alexander.
As an accomplished collaborative pianist, Julie enjoys performing with both instrumentalists and singers. Her former piano teachers include Duane Hulbert, James Barbagallo, William Heiles, Timothy Ehlen, and Edward Gates.
Julie is a frequent adjudicator at festivals and competitions throughout the United States. Her current research interests include elementary level piano technique, lesser known pre-college piano repertoire, and group piano pedagogy.
Stephanie Wu, Clinician
Pianist Stephanie Wu debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age twelve, under the baton of Yaron Traub, and has since then appeared as soloist with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Wheaton Symphony Orchestra, Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, DuPage Symphony Orchestra, Southwest Symphony Orchestra, Interlochen Symphony Orchestra, the Youth Symphony of DuPage, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Encore Chamber Orchestra, among others.
As recitalist, Dr. Wu has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, appearing in New York’s Steinway Hall and Yamaha Piano Salon, in Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall, in France’s Palais de Fontainebleau, and in China’s Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Her performances have been broadcast on Performance Today, New York’s WQXR 96.3, Chicago’s WFMT 98.7, and National Public Radio’s From the Top.
Dr. Wu has garnered top prizes from Iowa International Piano Competition, the Music Teachers National Association Competition, the Steinway Society, the Society of American Musicians, the Chinese Fine Arts Society, the Musician’s Club of Women, and the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation piano competition, among others.
Frequently collaborating with NYC-based musicians, Dr. Wu enjoys performing with Juilliard students as a staff pianist and serving as pianist at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. In addition, she has been invited to play at DaCapo Alliance (Paris), Berkshire Summer Music (Massachusetts), and Special Music School (New York), and she enjoys working with and promoting the works of living composers. Most recently, she premiered the piano trios of NYC-based composers Mark Stambaugh and Kyle Werner, performed a wind-trio by saxophonist and composer, David Bixler, and recorded “Tracing,” an exciting cello-piano duo by Turkish-American composer, Kamran Ince.
Serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at Ohio University beginning in Fall of 2017, Dr. Wu has also served as adjunct faculty at The Juilliard School for Piano Topics and Keyboard Studies and has held teaching assistantships in music history and secondary piano. She is on the faculty at Geneva Conservatory of New York and OPUS Chamber Music in Illinois and maintains a thriving private studio, ranging from ages 4-92.
As a C.V. Starr Fellow, Dr. Wu earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Julian Martin. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Orchestration of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin as Guide to its Interpretation,” sheds light on practical applications for pianists and was written under the guidance of composer, Philip Lasser. Dr. Wu holds her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance also from The Juilliard School, where she was awarded the Adele Marcus Piano Scholarship, the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship, the Richard S. Becker Scholarship, and the Jack Katzen Scholarship.
Dr. Wu is a Steinway Educational Partner. She began piano studies with her mother and continued with the late Emilio del Rosario and is passionate about sharing the joy and beauty of music and life with others.
As recitalist, Dr. Wu has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, appearing in New York’s Steinway Hall and Yamaha Piano Salon, in Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall, in France’s Palais de Fontainebleau, and in China’s Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Her performances have been broadcast on Performance Today, New York’s WQXR 96.3, Chicago’s WFMT 98.7, and National Public Radio’s From the Top.
Dr. Wu has garnered top prizes from Iowa International Piano Competition, the Music Teachers National Association Competition, the Steinway Society, the Society of American Musicians, the Chinese Fine Arts Society, the Musician’s Club of Women, and the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation piano competition, among others.
Frequently collaborating with NYC-based musicians, Dr. Wu enjoys performing with Juilliard students as a staff pianist and serving as pianist at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. In addition, she has been invited to play at DaCapo Alliance (Paris), Berkshire Summer Music (Massachusetts), and Special Music School (New York), and she enjoys working with and promoting the works of living composers. Most recently, she premiered the piano trios of NYC-based composers Mark Stambaugh and Kyle Werner, performed a wind-trio by saxophonist and composer, David Bixler, and recorded “Tracing,” an exciting cello-piano duo by Turkish-American composer, Kamran Ince.
Serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at Ohio University beginning in Fall of 2017, Dr. Wu has also served as adjunct faculty at The Juilliard School for Piano Topics and Keyboard Studies and has held teaching assistantships in music history and secondary piano. She is on the faculty at Geneva Conservatory of New York and OPUS Chamber Music in Illinois and maintains a thriving private studio, ranging from ages 4-92.
As a C.V. Starr Fellow, Dr. Wu earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Julian Martin. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Orchestration of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin as Guide to its Interpretation,” sheds light on practical applications for pianists and was written under the guidance of composer, Philip Lasser. Dr. Wu holds her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance also from The Juilliard School, where she was awarded the Adele Marcus Piano Scholarship, the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship, the Richard S. Becker Scholarship, and the Jack Katzen Scholarship.
Dr. Wu is a Steinway Educational Partner. She began piano studies with her mother and continued with the late Emilio del Rosario and is passionate about sharing the joy and beauty of music and life with others.
