Steven Spooner is an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and currently Professor of Piano at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Biography

As a performing artist, Spooner has given solo recitals at such major venues as

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 ...

Muziekcentrum Vredenburg Muziekcentrum Vredenburg was a music venue in Utrecht, Netherlands with a capacity of 5,000 people. It was designed by Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger. The venue hosted concerts by many famous artists, spanning many different genres. The old bu ...

in Utrecht, the Salle Cortot in Paris, Budapest's Great Hall of the

Liszt Academy The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

, Geneva's

Fête de la Musique The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborho ...

and numerous other halls across Europe, Latin America, South America, Asia, and the United States. Spooner has recently completed an enormous recital series comparable to

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sai ...

's historic recitals of 1885. These concerts consisted of seventeen solo piano recitals embracing much of the standard piano literature from the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

to composers of the 21st century. Spooner is also an active chamber collaborator and has performed with a diverse and distinguished list of vocalists and instrumentalists including, Silk Road Ensemble's Bassist Daxun Zhang, former Philadelphia Orchestra Trombonist, M. Dee Stewart, and prize-winning violinist Leor Maltinsky. Spooner's orchestral engagements include performances with the Danubia Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Crescent City Symphony, New Orleans Civic Symphony, Ozark Chamber Orchestra, and recent performances with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin during their recent tour of North America. Spooner is a

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

Artist.

Education

Spooner began his piano studies at the age of nine and made his public debut at age fourteen. He continued his education at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

, the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

and

Tbilisi State Conservatoire Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi. ...

, both in the former Soviet Union, and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. Spooner has studied with such distinguished artists as Karen Shaw, Nodar Gabunia, Edmund Battersby, Logan Skelton,

Noël Lee Noël Lee (December 25, 1924 – July 15, 2013) was an American classical pianist and composer. Born in 1924 in Nanjing, China, Lee studied music in Lafayette, Indiana, then attended Harvard University, studying with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, ...

Emile Naoumoff Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

, and

Earl Wild Earl Wild (November 26, 1915January 23, 2010) was an American pianist known for his transcriptions of jazz and classical music. Biography Royland Earl Wild was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1915. Wild was a musically precocious child and ...

and performed in master classes given by

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and education Argerich was born in Buenos Ai ...

Gary Graffman Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator. Early life Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of M ...

György Sándor György Sándor (; 21 September 1912 – 9 December 2005) was a Hungarian pianist and writer. Early years Sándor was born in Budapest. He studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest under Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, and debuted as ...

Tatiana Nikolayeva Tatiana Petrovna Nikolayeva (russian: Татья́на Петро́вна Никола́ева, ''Tat'jana Petrovna Nikolajeva''; May 4, 1924November 22, 1993) was a pianist, composer, and teacher from the Soviet Union. Life Nikolayeva was born ...

, and

Grant Johannesen Grant Johannesen (July 30, 1921 – March 27, 2005) was an American pianist. Biography Johannesen was born in Salt Lake City and discovered at the age of five by a teacher who lived across the street. He imitated whatever he heard her play, a ...

Awards

Spooner has been the recipient of many awards. In 1994, in his first international competition and although he was the youngest contestant, he obtained the Jury Prize at New Orleans International Piano Competition. In 1996 he was awarded First Prize and recipient of the Niekamp Career Grant as the most outstanding pianist in French music at the Paris Conservatory and second prize at the

Hilton Head International Piano Competition The Hilton Head International Piano Competition is a piano competition held annually since 1996 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina's First Presbyterian Church. Selected list of jurors * Joseph Banowetz * José Feghali * Peter Frankl * ...

. Spooner took fifth prize at the Artlivre International Piano Competition and was one of four international fellows of the Barnett Foundation, both in 2001. Spooner's performance at the 1999

International Franz Liszt Piano Competition The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition ("Liszt Competition") is an international piano competition. It is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. The Competition is held in Utrecht (city), Utrecht in the Neth ...

resulted in several return invitations to the Netherlands. Russian piano legend and

Professor

Victor Merzhanov Victor Karpovich Merzhanov (russian: Ви́ктор Ка́рпович Мержа́нов) (15 August 191920 December 2012) was a Russian pianist and People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Biography Merzhanov was born in Tambov and studied at Tamb ...

commented, "His performances possess the deep understanding of the contents of Liszt's works, organic and instinctive feeling of form and outstanding virtuosity. The crystal-clear enunciation of each tone and the feeling of phrasal climaxes and structure are also worth mentioning. His pianistic art must attract more attention from concert organizers around the world." In 2008 he was added to the international roster of Steinway Artists and was also the winner of the 2008 Ivory Classics Grant for apprenticeship with

Recordings

*DVD, Steven Spooner Plays Liszt. EMR Classics, 2010 *Historical Piano Recital Series Vol. I. EMR Classics, 2010 *Historical Piano Recital Series Vol. III. EMR Classics, 2010 *Historical Piano Recital Series Vol. IV. EMR Classics, 2010 *Steven Spooner Plays Liszt Live. EMR Classics, 2009 *Historical Piano Recital Series Vol. II. EMR Classics, 2008 *III. Don Quixote, Strauss/Stewart/Spooner. IU Music, 2001 *Steven Spooner Plays Schubert and Liszt Transcriptions. EMR Classics, 1999

In the news

Enhancements Put Works in Context at Three-Day Liszt Festival
''The Washington Post'' (June 2, 2008) *
Piano Professor to Study with Renowned Pianist
''KU News'' (May 1, 2008) *
Piano Professor Named as a Steinway Artist
''KU News'' (May 1, 2008) *
KU Professor Selected for International Liszt Performance
''KU News'' (November 16, 2009) *
Spooner Picked for Prestigious International Liszt Festival
''The Oread'' (January 19, 2009)

References

External links

* *
Steven Spooner, Assistant Professor of Piano, University of KansasSteven Spooner, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Schnittke: Concerto for Piano and StringsSteven Spooner, Meyerbeer/Liszt, Opera Paraphrase, ''Robert le Diable''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spooner, Steven Craig American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists University of Kansas faculty 1970 births Living people 21st-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists Musicians from Louisiana 20th-century American pianists 20th-century classical pianists Loyola University New Orleans alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni Moscow Conservatory alumni 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians