Sara Davis Buechner

Sara Davis Buechner’s career highlights include top prizes in many of the world’s most prestigious competitions (including the Gina Bachauer, Tchaikovsky, and Leeds Competitions), appearing with prominent orchestras all over the world, and an extensive list of recordings. A dazzling pianist and a witty speaker, Ms. Buechner’s extensive repertoire ranges from Mozart to Chopin to Busoni to Ragtime and Novelty Classics. Ms. Buechner is Assistant Professor of piano and chamber music at the University of British Columbia.

Alejandro Cremaschi

Alejandro Cremaschi teaches piano and piano pedagogy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Praised as an intelligent and sensitive pianist, Dr. Cremaschi is intensely involved in the performance and recording of music from his native country of Argentina. A specialist in technology, group piano, and cooperative learning, he has authored computer programs for sight reading practice, and computer tools for improvisation and transposition at the piano.

Jeremy Denk

Jeremy Denk was a 1998 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 1997 won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, both of which helped launch his national career as a pianist. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University (as a pupil of György Sebök), and the Juilliard School, and is a member of the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. A passionate chamber musician, Dr. Denk collaborates regularly with the violinist Joshua Bell.

Leon Fleisher

Renowned pianist, conductor, and teacher Leon Fleisher was the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium competition, but was forced to “retire” from performing in 1965 when a neurological affliction started affecting his right hand. Since then, Mr. Fleisher has championed the extensive repertoire for piano left-hand, while pursuing careers as conductor and teacher. For the last several years, Mr. Fleisher has been playing with both hands again and won enormous critical acclaim for his first two-hand recording in 40 years and his 2004 Carnegie Hall recital. Mr. Fleisher has held the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at the Peabody Conservatory of Music since 1959, and also serves on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher

Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher made her Carnegie Hall debut to critical acclaim in 2004 with duo piano partner Leon Fleisher. Ms. Jacobson-Fleisher has appeared as soloist and duo pianist with many leading orchestras, and makes regular appearances at the Aspen Summer Music Festival. She currently directs the piano ensemble program at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Stuart Isacoff

Stuart Isacoff is founding editor of the magazine Piano Today, Executive Editor of Sheet Music Magazine, and a recipient of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing about music. He is a sought-after lecturer, and author of the celebrated book Temperament, as well as numerous articles that have appeared in The New York Times, The New Grove Dictionary of Music in America, Chamber Music, Musical America, and Keyboard, among others.

Antonio Pompa-Baldi

First-prize winner in the 1999 Cleveland International Piano Competition and silver medalist at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Italian-born Antonio Pompa-Baldi has toured extensively on four continents, performing with leading conductors and collaborating with some of the finest chamber ensembles. The emotional power of his playing, along with the richness of timbre and variety of moods, connects with audiences worldwide. Mr. Pompa-Baldi serves as Distinguished Professor of Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Paul Roberts

One of the leading exponents of French piano music, Mr. Roberts is author of the celebrated book Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy (Amadeus Press) and is preparing for the 2007 release of his new biography of Debussy (Phaidon Press, London). Paul Roberts has recorded two discs of the music of Debussy and is featured in a DVD from Amadeus Press, Mists, Fairies, and Fireworks, in which he discusses and performs a selection of Debussy’s Preludes. He is a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and visiting professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is also director of the international piano summer school “Music at Castelfranc” near Toulouse in southern France.

Scott McBride Smith

Scott McBride Smith is a visionary leader in music education. As former president of Royal American Conservatory Examinations, he works to establish standards by championing national curriculum and assessment. As CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians, he leads a summer program that trains gifted young performers from around the world. As a former division president of MTNA, he works to update goals for music teachers nationally.