Boston Piano Competition

  • The Boston International Piano Competition (BIPC) debuted in 2001 at Boston Conservatory of Music and Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. The biennial competition originated from a committee of piano musician enthusiasts, out of their mutual appreciation for amateur piano competitions, under the leadership of Competition Director Robert S.
  • The Boston Piano Amateur Association is dedicated to promoting classical piano music and amateur performances worldwide.

BU School of Music offers the best of both worlds: an immersive music program and the diverse opportunities of a major research university. So dive deep. Be transformed not only as an artist but as a leader, entrepreneur, advocate, and thinker.

Piano study at Boston University is designed to inspire and prepare young artists for the exciting and varied opportunities that await them in today’s musical world. Be a part of a rich pianistic tradition, represented historically by great artists associated with Artur Schnabel, Isabelle Vengerova, Grigory Ginzburg, Heinrich Neuhaus, Claudio Arrau, Bela Nagy, and others. This tradition continues today, with the faculty strongly representing the German, Polish, Italian, and Russian schools of piano artistry.

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Degrees Offered

  • Bachelor of Music
    in Performance, Music Education, Composition & Theory, or Musicology
  • Master of Music
  • Performance Diploma
  • Doctor of Musical Arts
  • Artist Diploma

By the numbers

Boston Piano Amateurs, Boston, MA. 257 likes 4 were here. The Boston Piano Amateurs Association (BPA) is a tax-exempt non-profit organization which was founded in. The New England Music Festival is an annual musical competition sponsored by the Accordion Teachers Association of Massachusetts, Inc, (ATAM). The festival averages more than 3000 entries and 800 contestants from all across New England.

Undergraduate Piano Majors
Graduate Piano Majors
Piano Faculty Members
Competition
Pianos at BU

Faculty

  • Tanya Gabrielian

    Assistant Professor, Piano; Chair, Piano

  • Gila Goldstein

    Lecturer in Music, Piano

  • Linda Jiorle-Nagy

    Senior Lecturer in Music, Piano

  • Pavel Nersessian

    Associate Professor of Music, Piano

  • Boaz Sharon

    Professor Music, Piano

Curriculum

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. Our graduate students hail from the best universities and conservatories around the world.

At BU, discover and foster your goals and strengths working closely with one of our internationally recognized faculty-artists who guides your pianistic development.

Sit down at one of our 160 pianos and let our 119 state-of-the-art practice rooms be 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.

Undergraduate piano students can participate in the Piano Forum, in which recitals, conversations, and special events take place

BU School of Music is dedicated to the study of chamber music at all levels. Our program instills in students the professional skills and entrepreneurial spirit necessary to have chamber music be a meaningful part of their careers. Chamber music and collaborative projects are strongly encouraged by the Piano Department, both within the School of Music as well as throughout the university.

Boston international piano competition

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 Insititute (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.

Performance Opportunities

Boston Piano Competition 2020

With over 400 performances per year at the School of Music alone you will always be just a few steps from taking the stage.

In addition to individual private lessons, 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 $8000 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!

Recent Masterclasses

Play for an exciting roster of guest artists. In recent years, the piano program has had visitors such as:

  • Jerome Lowenthal
  • Dang Thai Son
  • Robert Roux
  • Marina Lomazov
  • Andrius Zlabys
  • Adam Neiman
  • Joanne Polk
  • Menachem Pressler
  • Choong Mo Kang
  • Anton Nel
  • Douglas Humphreys
  • John Perry
  • Robert Levin
  • James Giles
  • Ian Hobson
  • Asaf Zohar
  • Janice Weber
  • Dmitry Rachmanov
  • Paul Barnes
  • John O’Connor
  • And many others!

Other Opportunities

  • 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.
  • Five-year program in Bachelor of Music, Performance and Master of Music, Education. Official admission to the program occurs during the sophomore year, but students can begin adding music education courses gradually to the performance degree program starting in the freshman year.
  • An exciting and unique opportunity to study for a semester with the Royal College of Music in London, England through BU Study Abroad.
  • Arts Administration Certificate program, through the BU Metropolitan College, offers courses for graduate students interested in futures in arts leadership and administration.
  • Cross-curricular opportunities in the College of Fine Arts, including the Arts Leadership Minor, and access to the greater University’s liberal arts courses.

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.

WICKED LOCAL – Fifteen of the 56 contestants in the 10th Boston International Piano Competition hail from Massachusetts, including Cambridge, Acton, Somerville, Wellesley and other local towns. The contest is organized by Boston Piano Amateurs Association, based in Northborough, and its treasurer, Dr. Robert Berkowitz, hails from Natick and played in the very first competition in 2001. This year’s competition will be held June 5-8 at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. Performances and awards ceremonies are free and open to the public.

The competition is divided into gold and silver “streams.” Each stream features two to three rounds, judged by a jury panel of celebrity concert pianists and educators. Special prizes are awarded for the best performances of romantic, classical, baroque, and modern piano pieces, as well as an audience prize, selected by audience ballot. The competition will also webcast live to the worldwide audience via the nonprofit organization’s website.

Piano

The organization’s founder and president, Robert Finley, of Northborough, recently answered questions about the competition and his organization:

Q: Why is the Boston International Piano Competition (BIPC) important to Boston-area music and entertainment?

A: Audiences enjoy the excitement and suspense of music competitions, especially when participating contestants are gathered from all over the world. BIPC’s audiences are a great incentive for competitive pianists to intensely prepare for their recital programs, study with exceptional teachers, and play to the best of their ability to share their love of music. The contestant’s performances are enjoyed by those present in person, as well as a worldwide audience via a live webcast throughout the competition. These performing artists also serve as students for many of the excellent Boston area piano teachers.

Q: What should a competition attendee expect from the competition rounds from the audience?

A: Anyone who loves music should attend, whether they are professional or amateur pianists, music teachers, students, or those who don’t play but just like to listen. Performers from around the world compete in the first two days of preliminaries. The later rounds always feature some magnificent performances in semifinals and finals, comparable to performances by famous professional pianists.

BIPC’s audiences enjoy a huge variety of music from diverse genres including baroque, classical, romantic, impressionist, modern, etc. Listeners enjoy music from the very familiar to works they’ve never before heard. Some find it interesting to hear the same piece performed by several competitors, showcasing their very distinctive styles of playing.

10th Boston International Piano Competition

WHEN: June 5-8

WHERE: Longy School of Music, Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, 27 Garden St., Cambridge

Preliminary Round: June 5-6, 12:15-8:30 p.m.

Silver Stream Finals, Gold Stream Semifinals: June 7, 1:30-8 p.m.

Gold Stream Finals: June 8, 1:30-5 p.m.

ADMISSION: Free

INFO: bostonpianoamateurs.org; longy.edu

Boston International Piano Competition

Q: What type of competitor does BIPC draw, are there local participants?

A: The competition draws amateur performing artists who are passionate about playing the piano and who love music. They are all career professionals, making their living as doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, teachers and the like. Though the pianists are not playing as their first career, they enjoy this rich facet of their lifestyle musically and socially. They each experience triumphs and disappointments as they build their competition resume, challenging themselves to give their best performances possible.

About 15 contestants local to the Boston region will compete this year, among a total 56 participants. Some have competed in BIPC in prior years, and for others it is their BIPC debut, several being members of Boston Piano Amateurs Association.

Boston Piano Competition

Q: Why was the Boston International Piano Competition founded?

Boston International Piano Competition

A: Boston Piano Amateurs Association Inc. (BPAA), the creator of the Boston International Piano Competition, is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to organize piano competitions for highly talented amateur pianists. In addition to biennial piano competitions, BPAA organizes informal recital “soirees” in homes across the greater Boston area, master classes taught by expert celebrity piano educators, and formal piano recitals. BPAA’s mission enriches the cultural life of our greater community, increasing its interest in classical music, while providing opportunities for talented amateur pianists to perform to appreciative audiences.