Steven Lewis Graff is a pianist and teacher of music in New York City.

Early Years and Education

Steven Graff was born in Chicago where he studied piano with the late Eloise Niwa and made his debut as a soloist with The

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

. He went on to study at The

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

as a Petschek Scholarship student, where his teachers included

Adele Marcus Adele Marcus (February 22, 1906 May 3, 1995) was an American pianist and instructor whose career was based at the Juilliard School in New York City. Life and career Marcus was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the youngest of 13 children of a rabbi ...

Beveridge Webster Beveridge Webster (May 13, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1999, in Hanover, New Hampshire) was an American pianist and educator. Beveridge Webster studied with his father, initially, and in 1921, at age 14, he began five years of ...

and Herbert Stessin. He received a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Graduate School of CUNY, with a doctoral thesis entitled ''Chopin performance tradition and its relationship to analysis''. In 1986 he was a winner of the Juilliard School's eighth annual Gina Bachauer International Piano Scholarship Competition.

Performer

Steven Graff has toured Norway, Japan and throughout the United States and Europe. He was a prizewinner in The

Casadesus Casadesus is the surname of a prominent French artistic family. Its members include: * (1870–1954), composer and conductor ** Jules-Raphaël Casadesus, journalist, writer *** (1925–1999), writer, poet * Robert-Guillaume Casadesus (1878–1940 ...

and Stravinsky International Competitions. He has given performances at Zankel, Weill and Stern Auditoriums at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, and the Kaye Playhouse and Lang Hall at Hunter College,

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

and

Merkin Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Speci ...

in New York City, and his performances have been broadcast on New York radio stations WQXR and

WNCN WNCN (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Front Street in north Ral ...

, and Chicago's

WFMT WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...

. Graff has premiered new music and recorded contemporary works on the

Centaur Records Centaur Records is one of the oldest and largest independent classical labels in America. The company is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was founded by Victor Sachse in 1976. Centaur's catalog includes classical, historical, pops, contemp ...

and

Capstone Records Capstone Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Richard Brooks in 1986 and was based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has hundreds of releases featuring a w ...

Labels. Solo Concerto performances include the Hunter Symphony, The University of Arizona Orchestra at Flagstaff, The New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Chicago Chamber Orchestra, The Skokie Valley Symphony and The Northshore Philharmonia. He has given lecture/recitals at The

Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is best known for its Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the second largest piano competition in the United States. The Fou ...

and at The Aloha International Piano Festival in Hawaii.TGIF. Honolulu Advertiser - Jun 15, 2007 Steven Graff is a Steinway Artist.

Teacher

Mr. Graff served on the faculty at New York's

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and at The

Macaulay Honors College William E. Macaulay Honors College, commonly referred to as Macaulay Honors College or Macaulay, is a highly selective honors college for students at the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. The college awards full-tuition ...

of The

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. In fall 2020 he joined the faculty of the Petrie School of Music at

Converse College Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits ...

as a full-time Professor of Piano.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graff, Steven American classical pianists American male classical pianists Hunter College faculty Juilliard School alumni Living people Musicians from Chicago Classical musicians from Illinois 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists Year of birth missing (living people)