Steven Spooner
Encyclopedia
Steven Spooner is an American pianist
, and currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Kansas
in Lawrence, Kansas
.
, Holland's Vredenburg Centre, the Salle Cortot in Paris
, Budapest
's Great Hall of the Liszt Academy, Geneva
's Fete de la Musique
and numerous other halls across Europe
, Latin America
, South America
, Asia
, and the United States
. Dr. Spooner has recently completed an enormous recital series comparable to Anton Rubinstein
's historic recitals of 1885. These concerts consisted of seventeen solo piano recitals embracing much of the standard piano literature from the Baroque
to composers of the 21st century. Dr. 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. Dr. 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. Steven Spooner is a Steinway
Artist.
, the Paris Conservatory, the Moscow Conservatory
and Tbilisi State Conservatoire, both in the former Soviet Union, and Indiana University
. Dr. Spooner has studied with such distinguished artists as Karen Shaw, Nodar Gabunia, Edmund Battersby, Logan Skelton, Noel Lee
, Emile Naoumoff
, and Earl Wild
and performed in master classes given by Martha Argerich
, Gary Graffman
, Gyorgy Sandor
, Tatiana Nikolayeva
, and Grant Johannesen
.
. Dr. Spooner took fifth Prize at the Artlivre International Piano Competition and was one of four international fellows of the Barnett Foundation, both in 2001. Dr. Spooner's performance at the 1999 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
resulted in several return invitations to Holland. Russian piano legend and Moscow Conservatory
Professor Victor Merzhanov
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 Earl Wild
.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, and currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
.
Biography
As a performing artist, Steven Spooner has given solo recitals at such major venues as Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Holland's Vredenburg Centre, the Salle Cortot in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
's Great Hall of the Liszt Academy, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
's Fete de la Musique
Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.-History:The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the...
and numerous other halls across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Dr. Spooner has recently completed an enormous recital series comparable to Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
's historic recitals of 1885. These concerts consisted of seventeen solo piano recitals embracing much of the standard piano literature from the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
to composers of the 21st century. Dr. 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. Dr. 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. Steven Spooner is a Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
Artist.
Education
Steven 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 OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
, the Paris Conservatory, the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
and Tbilisi State Conservatoire, both in the former Soviet Union, and Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. Dr. Spooner has studied with such distinguished artists as Karen Shaw, Nodar Gabunia, Edmund Battersby, Logan Skelton, Noel Lee
Noël Lee
Noël Lee is an American classical pianist and composer living in Paris, France.He studied music in Lafayette, Indiana, then attended Harvard University, studying with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, and Tillman Merritt and was also a student at the Longy School of Music in the early 1940s...
, Emile Naoumoff
Emile Naoumoff
Emile Naoumoff revealed himself a musical prodigy at age five, taking up study of the piano and adding composition to his studies a year later. At the age of eight, after a fateful meeting in Paris, he became the last disciple of Nadia Boulanger, who referred to him as "the gift of my old age"...
, and Earl Wild
Earl Wild
Royland Earl Wild was an American pianist widely recognized as a leading virtuoso of his generation. Harold C. Schonberg called him a "super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class". He was known as well for his transcriptions of classical music and jazz...
and performed in master classes given by Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich is an Argentine pianist.-Early life:Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three...
, Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman is an American classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator.Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova...
, Gyorgy Sandor
György Sándor
György Sándor was a Hungarian pianist, writer, student and friend of Béla Bartók, and champion of his music.- Early years :...
, Tatiana Nikolayeva
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Tatiana Petrovna Nikolayeva was a Russian Soviet pianist, composer and teacher.-Early life:Nikolayeva was born in Bezhitsa in the Bryansk district on May 4, 1924...
, and Grant Johannesen
Grant Johannesen
Grant Johannesen was an American concert pianist.He was born in Salt Lake City and discovered at the age of five by an irate teacher who lived across the street. He imitated whatever he heard her play, and she did not appreciate it.He studied with Robert Casadesus, Roger Sessions, and Nadia...
.
Awards
Steven 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 CompetitionHilton Head International Piano Competition
The Hilton Head International Piano Competition is an annual piano competition held since 1996 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina's First Presbyterian Church.-Selected list of jurors:...
. Dr. Spooner took fifth Prize at the Artlivre International Piano Competition and was one of four international fellows of the Barnett Foundation, both in 2001. Dr. Spooner's performance at the 1999 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition , a member of WFIMC, is an international piano competition.The Competition is held in Utrecht in the Netherlands. It first took place in 1986, one hundred years after the death of Franz Liszt...
resulted in several return invitations to Holland. Russian piano legend and Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
Professor Victor Merzhanov
Victor Merzhanov
-Biography:Studied at Tambov Musical College with Solomon Starikov and Alexander Poltoratsky. Between 1936-1941 he studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the classes of Samuil Feinberg and Alexander Goedicke , graduating with distinction....
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 Earl Wild
Earl Wild
Royland Earl Wild was an American pianist widely recognized as a leading virtuoso of his generation. Harold C. Schonberg called him a "super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class". He was known as well for his transcriptions of classical music and jazz...
.
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
Spooner 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 (Nov. 16, 2009)
- "Spooner Picked for Prestigious International Liszt Festival" The Oread (Jan. 19, 2009)