Welcome to collaborative piano at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!

Established in 2004, the graduate program in collaborative piano offers master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees. Pianists receive specialized training in instrumental and vocal accompanying with appropriate emphasis in each student’s area of interest, and take additional coursework in a wide range of topics such as basso continuo and opera coaching techniques. They also gain accompanying experience in the choirs, large ensembles and opera rehearsals, and as a result acquire expanded practical skills and an understanding of the collaborative career possibilities ahead.

One of the unique features of this program is that pianists study with both collaborative piano faculty. In addition to multiple lessons each week with the collaborative piano faculty, students have the opportunity to play for the various performance studios across the college. The entire faculty of the college is an outstanding resource for the program, including the vocal coaching faculty and the acclaimed Takács Quartet.

Degree programs

Margaret McDonaldMargaret McDonald

Pianist Margaret McDonald, a native of Minnesota, is a professor of collaborative piano at the University of Colorado Boulder. She joined the College of Music keyboard faculty in the fall of 2004. She helped to develop the college’s new graduate degree program in collaborative piano and directed the undergraduate collaborative curriculum. Praised for her poetic style and versatility, McDonald enjoys a very active performing career and has partnered many distinguished artists including the Takács Quartet, Kathleen Winkler, Zuill Bailey, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Ben Kamins, David Shifrin, William VerMeulen, David Jolley, Ian Bousfield, Steven Mead and Velvet Brown. MORE

alexandra nguyenAlexandra Nguyen

A native of Montréal, Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano Alexandra Nguyen maintains a diverse career as a collaborative pianist, teacher and arts administrator. She is an accomplished pianist who has appeared throughout the United States and Canada including performances at the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York, NY), BargeMusic (Brooklyn, NY), the Strings Music Festival (Steamboat Springs, CO) and the Societe Pro Musica Chamber Music Series (Montréal, Canada). Recent performances include concerts with members of the Takács Quartet, baritone Patrick Mason as well as bassoonist Peter Kolkay, a long-standing collaboration. She has been an invited speaker at the National Association of Schools of Music Annual Meeting, the College Music Society Annual Conference, the Music Teachers National Association National Convention and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. MORE

Hsiao-Ling LinHsiao-Ling Lin

Teaching Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano Hsiao-Ling Lin, a native of Taiwan, joined the keyboard department faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder in fall of 2011. Lin enjoys an active performing career as a collaborative pianist throughout the world in such prestigious halls as the Weill Hall at Carnegie in New York and the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow. Her performances have been broadcasted live over the radio and she has collaborated with many distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Matt Haimovitz, Kenneth Grant, Basil Reeve and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and so on. MORE

suyeon kimSuyeon Kim

Korean pianist Suyeon Kim is a teaching assistant professor of collaborative piano at the University of Colorado Boulder since 2013. Kim is an experienced and versatile collaborator with significant instrumental and vocal accompanying experience. She earned a BM in piano performance and an MM in collaborative piano in Korea, an additional MM in piano accompanying and chamber music from the Eastman School of Music, and a DMA in collaborative piano from the University of Texas at Austin studying with Kihoon Yang, Jean Barr, Anne Epperson and Jonathan Feldman. MORE