Piano, Collaborative Piano, Organ, Harpsichord
The Keyboard Department houses a range of instruments at all degree levels. For undergraduates majoring in music performance, the piano program at Boston University is designed to inspire and prepare these young artists in the rigor of the tradition. Collaborative Piano is an intensive and in-depth program of study that advances pianists in the fields of song, duo sonata repertoire, and chamber music. World-class instruction is rooted in performance opportunities and masterclasses to prepare students for the stage.
celebrating 150 years of bu school of music
Keyboard Faculty
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Victor Cayres
Lecturer, Piano & Collaborative Piano; Co-Director, Young Artists Piano Program, BU Tanglewood Institute
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Jihye Chang Sung
Senior Lecturer in Music, Piano
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Shiela Kibbe
Associate Professor and Chair Keyboard; Coordinator, Collaborative Piano
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Pavel Nersessian
Associate Professor, Piano
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Boaz Sharon
Professor, Piano
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Andrius Zlabys
Lecturer in Piano
Program of Study
Piano
In keeping with its long history of world class instruction, the piano department offers BM, MM, DMA degrees in Piano Performance, as well as the Performance Diploma and Artist Diploma. All piano students are grouped together. This gives both undergraduates and graduate students the opportunity to participate in master classes, competitions, seminars, and studio classes.
Students work closely with internationally-recognized faculty-artists who guide pianistic development. In addition to events on and around campus, the artist-faculty is extremely active with summer festivals, including Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Szechuan International Piano Festival, and the San Juan International Piano Festival. BU students have long participated in those summer festivals, as well as others facilitated by BU faculty in Russia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, and China.
Undergraduate piano students receive conservatory-level training parallel with top level academics. The diversity of the student population, the possibility to pursue a double major, and chances to take classes from across the University, allows students to continue to expand their knowledge and to be a part of a large University with unlimited potential for opportunity. First and second year students must complete juries; third and fourth year students have required recitals. Undergraduate piano students can participate in the Piano Forum, in which recitals, conversations, and special events take place.
With 160 pianos and 119 state-of-the-art practice rooms, BU School of Music is your laboratory to learn repertoire, build technique, and experiment musically. Fortify ideas and test yourself through our ample performance opportunities in both formal and informal settings. In addition, theory, musicology, and chamber music are all requirements of the program.
We offer and recommend our highly innovative piano pedagogy courses. Upon completion of two of these courses, students have an opportunity to be selected for practical experience teaching students at BU. In addition, several BU piano students have performed and gained coached teaching experience at Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI). BUTI is associated with the Tanglewood Music Festival in the lovely Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. The Young Artists Piano Program takes place for 6 weeks each summer.
Collaborative Piano
Collaborative piano offers two graduate degrees: Master of Music in Performance, piano and Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance, piano.
At Boston University, collaborative pianists explore and study not only piano technique and accompaniment skill, but also foreign languages, literature, poetry, music theory, and musicology. Daily interaction with world-renowned faculty encourages growth as complete and versatile artists, and pianists graduate with diverse skills necessary for embracing the rapidly changing classical musical landscape.
In the College of Fine Arts, collaborative pianists benefit from the experience and knowledge of world-renowned teachers in the voice, instrumental, and ensemble departments. Collaborative pianists work in instrumental and vocal teaching studios throughout the School of Music. At BU and throughout the city of Boston, they enjoy varied performance opportunities with vocalists and instrumentalists, in duo partnerships and chamber ensembles.
Audition Requirements
Thinking of applying? Find out more about prescreening, repertoire, and audition details by instrument.
Performance Opportunities
With hundreds of performances per year at the School of Music you will always be just a few steps from taking the stage. Students perform regularly including annual performances at Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
In addition to individual private lessons, piano students participate in studio activities, perform in recitals and masterclasses, and also have the opportunity to compete in the annual BU Concerto Competition, several award winners of which have been invited to perform with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. In addition, our highly-competitive Richmond Competition, which is only open to BU piano students, offers a prize of $10,000 and a prestigious appearance at the Tsai Performing Arts Center. Piano students are also active with the esteemed Boston University Center for Beethoven Research.
And don’t forget: this is Boston, a city where music matters. Our piano students are provided an exciting array of opportunities and having access to all that Boston offers means that students have an endless supply of musical events and inspiration right outside their door!
Notable Alumni
Recent graduates of BU have won major awards at the Hamamatsu, Jaen, Dallas and Moscow Liszt international piano competitions. Our students perform worldwide in festivals and concerts and have gone on in recent years to be on the piano faculty of such institutions as Beijing Normal University, China Conservatory, Seoul National University, Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, and other universities in the US and abroad.
Anna Arazi (DMA ‘15)
Prize winner of the 2015 Dallas International Piano Competition (Third Prize), the American Protege 2014 (Second Prize)
Leon Bernsdorf (BM ‘14, MM ‘16)
Third Prize at the Fourteenth Liszt Ferenc International Piano Competition
Lucy Chen (MM ‘11 DMA ‘15)
Assistant Professor of Piano at Edward Waters College. Founder, Keys on Parade group piano program, a quality, tuition-free group piano program serving underrepresented students in the Jacksonville urban core.
Heeyeon Chi (DMA ‘16)
Faculty, New England Conservatory Prep. Prizes at International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival & Competition, Brandshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Burnaby Clef Society Competition, and Burnaby Concerto Competition. Guest artist at Interlochen Center for the Arts and Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Program
Raquel Gorgojo (DMA ‘14)
Piano Faculty, Conservatorio Superior de Salamanca
Baekyu Kim (DMA ‘13)
Recitalist. Performed at Salle Cortot in Paris, Lille, and Strasburg in France, Freiburg and karlsruhe in Germany, the Sejong Art Center and YoungSan Art Center in Seoul, Kangwon University and the Mozart Hall in Korea. Winner 2008 Special Presentation Award from the Artists International Competition. 2009 Carnegie Hall debut.
Minjung Kim (DMA ‘15)
2nd prize, 2014 American Protégé International Music Competition, Performed at Weill Recital Hall
Alexia Mouza (AD ‘15)
First Prize at the International Piano Competition Delia Steinberg, Madrid (2015), Third Prize at the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2015) and the Prize of the Academy of Athens (2015)
Moises Fernandez Via (PD ‘11)
Founder Arts | Lab @ BUMC. Winner, Scarlatti International Piano Competition, Naples.
Benjamin Warsaw (DMA ‘11)
Assistant Professor at Armstrong State University, Savannah, GA. Former faculty at Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Blue Lake Fine Arts, Chautauqua Institution, and is currently on faculty at Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival.
Thomas Weaver (BM ’13)
Faculty – Core Studies, Keyboard Studies, Supplementary Piano at Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia
Boston University Collaborative Piano majors have held apprenticeships with prestigious institutions including: Central City Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, and the Washington National Opera.
They have attended, or been staff pianists at, summer festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival and School, Banff Centre, Music Academy of the West, Schubert Institute–Austria, SongFest–Los Angeles and Source Song.
Our alumni are professionally engaged as staff pianists for opera and ballet companies, Broadway shows, and choruses across the country. They are also employed professionally as teachers, coaches, and staff pianists at universities and music schools world-wide.
Geraldine Anello
Broadway conductor and music director
Dr. Claire-Chung Lim
Collaborative Pianist, Chamber and Solo Musician; Visiting Assistant Professor in Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music department, Indiana University Bloomington
Yoko Igarashi
Accompanist, Boston Ballet
Jessica Modaff
Collaborative Pianist; Assistant Teaching Professor in Music, Gordon College
Robert Mollicone
Pianist, Assistant Conductor, San Francisco Opera
Dr. Jinhyang Park
Assistant Professor of Music, Walla Walla University
Next Steps for Applicants
The best way to determine if BU is right for you is to visit us in-person or remotely. Observe classes. Faculty members are available to meet with you and to discuss your educational interests, individual learning needs, and career goals.
Explore our admission requirements, financial tools, and resources to determine if the program is the right match. Reach out to visitSOM@bu.edu with any questions along the way.
