2024 NAU Virtual PianoFest
Saturday, October 12, 2024
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Arizona Time
FREE via Zoom
Download the schedule here.
The NAU Virtual PianoFest is an intensive single-day event open to pianists of all levels and ages, whether students, teachers, or amateur pianists. This year’s program features a wide array of sessions presented by the distinguished NAU piano faculty artists.
Questions? Contact Dr. Silvan Negruțiu at silvan.negrutiu@nau.edu.
2024 Virtual PianoFest FACULTY
Dr. SILVAN NEGRUȚIU
Hailed as “a startling and authentic pianist displaying rich imagination and brilliant vigor, whose precision and splendor of keyboard sound certainly inspire a transcendental reality” (The Musical News Journal, Bucharest), Silvan Negruţiu has performed on major international stages, from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to Ireland’s National Concert Hall, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, the Xi’an Concert Hall in China, the Showa Recital Hall in Tokyo, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He has released two albums on Centaur Records and has appeared as soloist with prestigious orchestras, including the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Alicante Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic, and Dublin Symphony Orchestra. In high demand as a performer, clinician, adjudicator, and speaker, he appears frequently as a conference presenter and an artist-teacher at international music festivals across Europe, America, and Asia. As an artist, a teacher, and a scholar, he embraces the exploration of rare piano literature, innovative pedagogy, and the advancement of arts entrepreneurship in higher education. Silvan Negruțiu serves as the Karen and Michael Kitt Endowed Professor in Piano and Director of Piano Studies at Northern Arizona University. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Flagstaff Piano Festival and Northern Arizona Piano Competition. Prior to joining the NAU faculty, he taught at Millikin University, Shenandoah Conservatory, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Dr. TIANTIAN LIANG
Dr. Tiantian Liang serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Group Piano in the Kitt School of Music at Northern Arizona University. As a dedicated scholar in pedagogy and performance, Liang’s research interests include the works of underrepresented composers. Recently, she performed a lecture-recital for the 2022 Southern College Music Society Conference titled “Introducing Chinese Piano Music to the Advanced Student: Pedagogical Uses for Tan Dun’s Eight Memories in Watercolor.” She most recently performed selections from Fanny Mendelssohn’s Das Jahr for the 2023 NCKP in Lombard IL and the Music by Women Conference at Mississippi University for Women. In 2024, Liang will present “Pedagogical Uses for Rautavaara’s Etudes” for the National MTNA Conference in Atlanta, GA. Liang’s degrees include a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Performer Diploma from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, a Master of Music from Rice University, and a Bachelor of Music from Concordia College.
Dr. KENNETH OSOWSKI
Pianist Kenneth Osowski maintains an active career as both performer and educator. In the summer of 2024, he was appointed to the piano faculty of Northern Arizona University’s Kitt School of Music. He previously served as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Piano and Music Theory Studies at York College of Pennsylvania, where he also taught courses in Jazz History, History of Rock & Roll, and Music & Culture since 1900. Osowski earned a doctoral degree from the Peabody Conservatory, a master’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. He has served as Principal Pianist of the York Symphony Orchestra, Collaborative Pianist for the York County Senior Honors Choir, Founder/Artistic Director for the York Chamber Players, and Artistic Co-Director of the York Summer Music Academy. Osowski’s festival appearances include Yellow Barn and the Tanglewood Music Center. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Hershey Symphony, and the University of Nevada Orchestra. A dedicated chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jupiter, Lydian, and Parker String Quartets, Mobius Percussion, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and Apollo Chamber Players. Ken and his wife Nora live in Flagstaff, Arizona with their dog (Jane) and four cats (Alma, Lucy, Otis, and Sidney).
Dr. AIMEE FINCHER
Dr. Aimee Fincher serves as Assistant Professor of Practice in Collaborative Piano at Northern Arizona University, where she is delighted to be part of a vibrant piano-area team. At NAU, she performs with students and faculty, facilitates collaborative piano assignments, coaches chamber music, and co-teaches piano ensemble. An experienced chamber musician, collaborator, and large ensemble pianist, she is comfortable performing wide-ranging styles and genres. Orchestral performances have included premieres by William Price and Amir Zaheri, Credo in US by John Cage, and Absolute Jest by John Adams. Prior to her work at NAU, Dr. Fincher worked at Oakwood University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Together with violinist Hannah Leland, she released Duo Odéon’s album, Specter, on the Sono Luminus label, featuring premiere recordings of unpublished manuscripts by the composer George Antheil and the violinist Werner Gebauer. She can also be heard on Summit Records’ album, Table for Three at Chez Janou, in collaboration with Arizona State University brass professor John Ericson and professor emeritus Douglas Yeo. Aimee Fincher earned her doctorate in collaborative piano at Arizona State University, and performance and pedagogy degrees from the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina, where her professors included Andrew Campbell, Russell Ryan, and Scott Price.