Piano performance

Piano faculty on Farrand Field

 

Welcome to piano performance at the University of Colorado College of Music!

The internationally recognized piano faculty is uniquely equipped to provide an education that balances a strong program in solo performance with in-depth experiences in pedagogy, accompanying, chamber music, literature, jazz performance and improvisation. Undergraduate pianists may choose to pursue BA, BM or BME degrees. MM and DMA degree programs include extensive and individually considered requirements in repertoire, recitals and research work.

Andrew Cooperstock

Andrew Cooperstock, prizewinner in the National Federation of Music Clubs Artist Competition and the New Orleans International Competition, has performed throughout six continents and in most of the fifty states, including engagements at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Greenwich Village’s (le) Poisson Rouge, Broadway’s 54 Below, BargeMusic, National Symphony of Ghana, Hong Kong’s Hell! Hot contemporary music festival, and on National Public Radio and the BBC. An avid chamber player, he has performed with the Takács Quartet and the Colorado Chamber Players, and with Broadway actress Marin Mazzie. With violinist William Terwilliger, as Opus Two, he has recorded a critically acclaimed series of American music (Naxos, Azica, Albany), and his upcoming solo CD, for Bridge Records, features the complete piano works of Leonard Bernstein. Outside of CU, Cooperstock is faculty member at Rocky Ridge Music Center and the Saarburg Music Festival in Germany. He has also presented masterclasses at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hans Eisler, Riga’s Academy of Music and Beijing’s Central Conservatory, among many others. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Peabody and Cincinnati Conservatories, he formerly served on the faculties of the University of Oklahoma, Brevard Music Center and Round Top International Festival. Cooperstock is a Steinway artist. MORE

Alejandro Cremaschi

Alejandro Cremaschi, NCTM, received his MM and DMA degrees from the University of Minnesota. He earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. He studied with Dora De Marinis, Nancy Roldan and Lydia Artymiw. He was a prize winner at the International Beethoven Sonata Piano Competition in Memphis, Tennessee in 2001. Cremaschi’s current pedagogical research areas include concert repertoire and pedagogical music by Latin American composers; student achievement, motivation and practicing strategies; and the pedagogical uses of technology. He has been a presenter at numerous national and international conferences, and has published articles in the Research Studies in Music Education journal, Journal of Music, Technology and Education, Clavier Companion and the MTNA e-journal among others. He is an active performer, and has recorded as a soloist and as a member of Trio Cordilleras for the labels IRCO, Ostinato, Marco Polo and Meridian Records. Cremaschi teaches piano pedagogy, applied piano, class piano and keyboard harmony, and coordinates the class piano area at CU. He was the President of the Colorado State Music Teachers Association between 2012 and 2014. MORE

Jennifer Hayghe

Jennifer Hayghe has performed in solo recitals and made orchestral appearances throughout the world, including the United States, Europe and Asia. Hayghe received her bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was the last student of the legendary artist-teacher Adele Marcus. Hayghe won every award possible for a Juilliard pianist to receive, including the William Petschek Debut Award, resulting in her New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall. Hayghe has performed and taught as a soloist and chamber musician at universities and colleges throughout the country as well as appearing as a concerto soloist with various orchestras throughout the United States. She has performed in major chamber music series, including Bargemusic in New York and the Garth Newel Center for Music series in Virginia, and has taught chamber music throughout the United States and Central America. She was formerly an Associate Professor of Piano at Ithaca College and the Barineau Endowed Professor of Piano at Louisiana State University, Hayghe has served as a featured artist at music teachers’ conventions throughout the country and has given masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music and in the New York University Piano Master Class Series. MORE

David Korevaar

David Korevaar, whose playing has been called a “musical epiphany” by Gramophone Magazine, performs an extensive repertoire as a soloist and chamber musician around the US and internationally. In addition to his teaching at CU, he is a regular participant as performer and teacher at Colorado’s Music in the Mountains summer festival and continues to teach and perform regularly in Japan under the auspices of The Music Center Japan. Korevaar’s extensive discography includes numerous solo and chamber music recordings. Recent releases include a two-disc set of Bach’s Six Partitas for Keyboard BWV 825-830 (MSR), Hindemith’s three Piano Sonatas and Suite “1922” (MSR) and two Schubert Sonatas (MSR). In addition, his collaboration with members of the Takacs Quartet has resulted in a number of releases, including a disc of Brahms with violist Geraldine Walther and cellist Andras Fejer (MSR), two Beethoven Violin Sonatas with violinist Edward Dusinberre (Decca), and Hindemith's music for Viola and Piano with Geraldine Walther (MSR). In Spring 2016, a disc of chamber works by Tibor Harsányi with Charles Wetherbee (Naxos), and a Chopin recital (MSR) are scheduled for release. In addition to his performing activities, Korevaar writes on various musical topics, with a focus on French music. MORE

Upcoming piano + keyboard events

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Some of our recent piano performance graduates have gone on to serve on the faculties of:
  • Wartburg College (Iowa)
  • Ouachita Baptist University (Arkansas)
  • Ithaca College (New York)
  • Sterling College (Kansas)
  • Elizabethtown College (Pennsylvania)
  • East Central University (Oklahoma)
  • Conservatoire de Musique de Genève (Switzerland)
  • Georgia State University
  • International School (Switzerland)
  • Parlando School for the Arts (Colorado)
  • Colorado Christian College
  • Sul Ross University (Texas)
  • Myongji University (Korea)
  • Shenzhen School of the Arts (China)

Piano lessons with a faculty member are usually reserved for piano majors and require an audition. There are other options for piano study at CU.

Piano lessons for children

The keyboard department has partnered with the Continuing Education department at CU to offer lessons for children at all levels through the CU Youth Piano Program. These lessons are taught by selected graduate students in piano under the supervision of Dr. Alejandro Cremaschi, chair of the piano pedagogy area at CU. Visit the Division of Continuing Education’s website for more information.

Piano for adults for through the university for credit or no credit

1. Piano class for beginners. We offer MUEL 1115 (FALL and SPRING) and MUEL 1125 (SPRING) for beginners. It is taught in a piano laboratory to a group of up to 12 students. MUEL 1115 is designed for absolute beginners. The offer 1 credit.

2. Piano through Continuing Education: The Applied Music Program in the Continuing Education department offers piano lessons for beginners for credit and non-credit.  Contact the Continuing Education department directly to enroll in this class. There is an extra fee.

Piano for adults, no university credit

In the fall of even years, the Piano Pedagogy program offers lessons for adult absolute beginners. These lessons are taught by undergraduate piano majors taking Elementary Pedagogy. A total of 10 lessons are offered through the semester. In the SPRING semesters (every year), the Piano Pedagogy program offers lessons for adults who have at least 2 or 3 years of prior piano lessons. These lessons are taught by undergraduate or graduate piano majors taking Pedagogy. A total of 9 lessons are offered through the semester.  

Information can be found at Piano Lessons for Adult Beginners, or contact the class piano coordinator Alejandro Cremaschi for information.