Department of Piano

The Department of Piano offers comprehensive professional training to talented musicians, along with the exceptional opportunity to study at one of the nation’s foremost public research universities. Performance opportunities are plentiful and strongly encouraged, along with many possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Pianists receive thorough preparation for careers as soloists, chamber musicians, accompanists and teachers through individual instruction, ensemble coaching, chamber music studies, and a rigorous course of piano literature and musicianship classes, including access to performance practice, fortepiano, and harpsichord instruction. Fellow students are smart, focused, and supportive, creating a rich environment for artistic growth and creative thought.

Faculty

Members of the piano faculty are distinguished musicians and devoted teachers who expertly guide and encourage students to achieve their greatest potential.  As active practitioners of their craft and celebrated pedagogues, they offer weekly private lessons and seminars to all their students.

Performance Opportunities

From large ensembles in celebrated concert halls to chamber groups in intimate recital spaces, performance opportunities across all disciplines abound, with nearly 900 student performances each academic year. Whether your focus is on early, classical, or contemporary music, whether your passion is for jazz, electronic, or world music, there is an ensemble—or in many cases, multiple ensembles—to suit your interests, including specific opportunities for percussion, piano, and organ & carillon. For students in theatre & drama, musical theatre, dance, and opera, opportunities abound in both professionally produced and student-run presentations.

Recitals

Recitals

Across all disciplines, students perform and study with their peers in studio classes and perform for the public in solo student recitals and studio recitals.

Collaborative

Collaborative Piano

Collaborative Piano students work with vocalists and instrumentalists throughout SMTD.

Chamber Music

Chamber Music

The thriving chamber music scene at SMTD offers students nearly limitless options to perform, innovate, and collaborate in small, self-driven, and diverse ensembles.

Large Ensembles

Large Ensembles

SMTD ensembles offer numerous concerts each season, performing notable works in the traditional canon as well as abundant newly commissioned works.

Our Stories

Alumni Notes

In 2023, Leah Claiborne (MM ’14, DMA ’18, piano pedagogy & performance) was named one of Yamaha’s “40 under 40,” a list of the most influential music educators in America, and was an SMTD Alumni Award winner. She received early promotion with tenure at the University of the District of Columbia.
Kara Dupuy-McCauley (BM '04, music technology and piano performance) is now a Mayo Clinic pulmonologist with a specialty in sleep medicine. She is collaborating with her former professor Stephen Rush and performing arts technology students on a research study highlighted in the Winter 2023 Michigan Muse.
Daniel Pesca (MM ’07, composition, piano) has been appointed assistant professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. In addition to his prolific career as a composer, Pesca maintains an active schedule as a pianist, both as soloist and as member of the Grossman Ensemble at the University of Chicago. (9/2023)

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