About

American pianist Johnandrew Slominski enjoys a distinguished reputation as a performer and pedagogue. His elegant and sophisticated playing has earned praise from composers and critics alike. Slominski has been hailed as "a remarkable, brilliant, and gifted pianist" (Chautauquan Daily), commended for performing with "a great deal of intellect" (89.9 KBPS Portland), and recognized for his communicative performance: "I was profoundly moved by his performance... He has a musicianship that transcends his youthfulness." (Eye on Sun Valley). Slominski seamlessly navigates the landscape of a varied and thriving career as a soloist, chamber musician, music theorist, author, pedagogue, and speaker. Highlights of his busy current season include performances of Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, a concert tour of Florida, recordings for Oxford University Press, a forthcoming CD of solo piano music on the Centaur label, an article in Music Theory Online (the publication of the Society for Music Theory), performances with tenor Robert Swensen, a featured performance and story on Rochester, New York's WXXI Public Radio, and more than a dozen teaching and speaking engagements.

A child prodigy, Slominski gave his first public performance at age 5, won his first piano competition at age 6, and entered college at age 15. By age 21, Slominski had earned three degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, including a Master of Music in Performance and Literature, a Master of Arts in Pedagogy of Music Theory, and a Bachelor of Music in Performance; his first professorship followed two years later. He was unanimously nominated for (and received) Eastman's coveted Performer's Certificate in recognition of outstanding concert artistry--the youngest individual to have received such an honor. Slominski holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, also from the Eastman School of Music. In 2009 he was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student, and 2010 Slominski received the Jerald C. Graue Musicology Fellowship in recognition for his research in the field of nineteenth-century performance practice. His innovative performance and pedagogical research has been supported by institutions including the Classics Abroad Society and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Slominski is the founder and director of "Classical Music on the Spot", an intensive summer institute at the Eastman School of Music, dedicated to the study and practice of eighteenth-century style improvisation.

Slominski is a frequent solo performer, collaborative pianist, masterclass clinician, and lecturer. Praised in print for his virtuosity, innovative programming, and broad repertoire, he performs throughout the United States and abroad; he has been recently featured as a guest artist at the Chautauqua Institution for Fine and Performing Arts, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival, the Sunderman Recital Series at Gettysburg College, Steinway Hall, the Sun Valley Artist Series, and the St. Petersburg College Piano Series, while international performances have included recitals at the Jan Deyl Conservatory in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Salle Cortot in Paris, France. As a competition laureate, Slominski was awarded first prize in the Chautauqua International Piano Competition and was the silver medalist in the International Keyboard Odyssiad Piano Competition.

His recordings have been broadcast domestically by National Public Radio and are published by Oxford University Press and Centaur Records (forthcoming). His principal studies at the Eastman School were with Rebecca Penneys; additional teachers have included Robert Levin, John Perry, Steven Laitz, Dorothy Fahlman, Malcolm Bilson, Joseph Silverstein, and Jean-Francois Antonioli.

Slominski has held teaching positions at the University of Rochester, the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. He has also served as a joint faculty member at the Eastman School of Music in both piano and music theory. His students (both pianists and theorists) have been accepted to prestigious undergraduate and graduate programs at schools including Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and the North Carolina School for the Arts. Slominski teaches during the summer months at the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival at the University of South Florida, and serves as an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Slominski is a New Piano Collective artist.

Music

Current (2016) concert programs:

1. Works Reimagined: compositions that revisit older music and traditions in brilliant new ways.

Ravel: Sonatine
Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy
Krauze: Two Inventions
Chopin: Mazurkas, Op. 17
Schumann/Liszt: Song Transcriptions
Gershwin/Wild: Song Transcriptions

2. Sonatas: Arguably the most important form written for piano, presented in four unique guises.

Ravel: Sonatine
Mozart: K. 310
Haydn: Hob. XVI/52
Beethoven: Op. 53 (Waldstein)

3. Romantic Character Pieces

Brahms: Op. 118
Schumann: Kinderszenen
Chopin: Mazurkas Op. 17
Chopin: Berceuse
Chopin: Barcarolle

Audio