Renowned Irish Pianist John O’Conor Named Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Shenandoah University’s Conservatory
Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak has announced that Irish Pianist John O’Conor will join the conservatory’s faculty as distinguished artist-in-residence. The official announcement was made on Sunday, April 11.
Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak has announced that Irish Pianist John O’Conor will join the conservatory’s faculty as distinguished artist-in-residence. The official announcement was made on Sunday, April 11, during the intermission of The World of Piano solo performance by O’Conor for the Performing Arts Live concert series at Shenandoah.
“I’m thrilled that John O’Conor is joining our faculty in this prestigious position and will be teaching here at Shenandoah,” Dean Stepniak shared. “Beyond being an exceptional artist, he is a true master-teacher. Consistently, he has mentored and helped young performers develop into world-class artists and engaged students with an approach that is equal parts vigor, care and keen insight.”
O’Conor is broadly recognized for his deep commitment to the development of young pianists. His students have won many international prizes, and he himself continues to serve on the juries of many of the world’s most prestigious international piano competitions. Among the competitions he has judged are Leeds, Moscow (Tchaikovsky), Vienna (Beethoven), Warsaw (Chopin), Tel Aviv (Rubinstein), Hamamatsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Munich, Bolzano (Busoni), Cologne, Vevay (Clara Haskil), Cleveland, Salt Lake City (Gina Bachauer), Sydney, Pretoria, London, College Park (William Kapell), Valencia (Jose Iturbi), Hilton Head and Seoul.
O'Conor has earned a worldwide reputation as a masterful interpreter of the Classic and early-Romantic repertoires. Following initial studies in his native Dublin, he studied in Vienna with the renowned pedagogue Dieter Weber, won First Prize at the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna in 1973 and completed a special study of Beethoven with the legendary German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. Since then he has toured the world in recital and concerto appearances and makes regular visits to Europe, the USA, Japan, Korea and China.
"I’m thrilled that John O’Conor is joining our faculty in this prestigious position and will be teaching here at Shenandoah" Dean of Shenandoah Conservatory, Michael Stepniak
As well as being a professor of piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, O’Conor gives masterclasses and lectures in many of the places he performs and in many of the major music institutions including Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, Harvard, Yale, Temple, Rutgers, the Hamamatsu Piano Academy in Japan, the National University of the Arts in Korea, the Australian National Academy and the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia, the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London. He has been a member of the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2006 and is a regular performer at the festival.
At Shenandoah, O’Conor joins a prestigious group of others in residence, including Artist-in-Residence Robert Shafer, String Quartet-in-Residence the Audubon Quartet, Executive-in-Residence William Brandt, Ambassador-in-Residence Jaime de Ojeda and Bishop-in-Residence Ray Chamberlain.
Shenandoah Conservatory, founded in 1875, is located in the historic Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Va., approximately 70 miles west of Washington, D.C. More than 700 students are enrolled in baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral curricula in the areas of music, theatre and dance. In addition to collegiate instruction, the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy provides non-credit instruction for 1,700 students and includes performing ensembles for youth and adults. Shenandoah Conservatory is the oldest of six schools that comprise Shenandoah University, and has been an institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music since 1940. For more information, visit www.su.edu/conservatory.