Former Fellows
Dan Tepfer
2007 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz
Critics have called this New York-based pianist/composer "brilliant" (Boston Globe), "one of tomorrow's jazz stars" (Eugene Weekly) and "certainly among those clearly willing to play with familiar formulas and take new approaches, even as he incorporates strokes from the masters" (Jazzreview.com). His eclectic sound, which one French reviewer called "a resolutely fresh approach to the piano, somewhere between classical music and jazz" (La Terrace), reflects the diverse path that led him to a career in jazz. Raised in Paris, France in an American family, he started classical piano studies when he was six and quickly began to explore improvisation. In college, he majored in astrophysics before switching to jazz piano for his master's at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He tours internationally as leader of his trio and has released a debut CD which was voted one of the ten best albums of 2005 by Cadence Magazine. Tepfer was awarded both the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition. He has studied with Martial Solal, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Danilo Pérez and Bob Brookmeyer. Represented on the Sunnyside label with Lee Konitz.
Stephen Beus
2006 Max I. Allen Fellow
In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the 2006 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).
Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College and The Juilliard School where his teachers have included Leonard Richter and Robert McDonald. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics and Harmonia Mundi labels.
Spencer Myer
2006 Christel DeHaan Fellow
Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Spencer Myer is garnering stellar audience and critical acclaim from around the globe, rapidly establishing himself as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation.
Spencer Myer can be heard on the Dimension Records label, performing music of the late Cleveland composer Frederick Koch and on a composer-conducted Naxos CD in performances of three concerti from Huang Ruo‟s Chamber Concerto Cycle. His debut CD for Harmonia Mundi USA - music of Busoni, Copland, Debussy and Kohs - was released in the fall of 2007.
Thomas Rosenkranz
2003 Lucina Ball Moxley Fellow
Faculty at the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University
Michael Sheppard
2003 Christel DeHaan Fellow
Acclaimed concert pianist, staff member of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and recorded on the Harmonia Mundi label
Christopher Taylor
2000 Classical Fellow
Faculty member at the School of Music at University of Wisconsin - Madison, Gilmore Young Artist and acclaimed international pianist
1998 Jazz Fellow
Acclaimed performer
Hiroko Kunitake
1997 Classical Fellow
Peter Miyamoto
1997 Classical Fellow
Head of the piano department at the New York Summer Music Festival.
Kevin Bales
1994 Jazz Fellow
Instructor at the University of North Florida American Music Department
Adam Kent
1993 Classical Fellow
Piano Faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and Concordia College.
Jim Pryor
1992 Jazz Fellow
Daniel Shapiro
1991 Classical Fellow
Piano faculty of the University of Iowa and is currently on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Brian Ganz
1989 Classical Fellow
Member of the piano faculty at St. Mary's College of Maryland and an adjunct member of the faculty at the Peabody Conservatory.
Stephen Prutsman
1989 Classical Fellow
Internationally acclaimed concert pianist and Artistic Director of the Cartagena International Festival of Music.
Philip Hosford
1987 Classical Fellow
Dmitry Rachmanov
1985 Classical Fellow
Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of Keyboard Studies at California State University, Northridge
John Salmon
1983 Classical Fellow
Faculty member of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music.
Michael Lewin
1983 Classical Fellow
Piano faculty of The Boston Conservatory and is the Artistic Director of the Piano Masters Series.
Sara Davis Buechner
1981 Classical Fellow
Music Director of the American Dance Institute in Rockville, Maryland.
Jonathan Shames
1981 Classical Fellow
Artistic Director of the University of Oklahoma Opera theater and Director of Orchestral Studies at the Oklahoma University School of Music.
