Piano Festival 2027

Three or four young pianists have the opportunity to be coached by Dr. Andrew Staupe. College and high school students who are advanced in their piano studies are invited to participate! Prepared pieces should be 10 minutes or less in duration. There is no charge for participation. Selection of students will be based on level of literature and experience.

This recital is open to high school and college students (or beyond) from the region. Students may perform up to 10 minutes of music. 

Pianist Andrew Staupe is emerging as one of the distinctive voices of a new generation of pianists. Andrew has appeared as soloist with many of the top orchestras throughout the United States and in Europe, including the Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, the George Enescu Philharmonic in Romania, and many others. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors Osmo Vänskä, Cristian Macelaru, Jahja Ling, Gerard Schwarz, Andrew Litton, Lucas Richman, Josep-Caballe Domenech, and Philip Mann. Andrew has performed recitals across the United States and extensively in Europe, appearing in distinguished concert venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, the Schumann Haus in Leipzig, and the Salle Cortot in Paris. 

An avid chamber musician, Andrew has jammed with legendary vocalist Bobby McFerrin, played Tangos with the Assad Brothers, and has collaborated with numerous other distinguished instrumentalists and singers. He recently recorded his debut CD with violinist Hasse Borup for the Naxos label in Copenhagen which will be released in 2020. Andrew has a keen interest in performing new music and has collaborated with composers Howard Shore, Augusta Read Thomas, Yehudi Wyner, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Pierre Jalbert, Richard Lavenda, and Christopher Walczak among others. Other notable performances include concerts at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, and the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington DC. He has been heard twice on American Public Media’s “Performance Today,” and on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” in 2004. 

Deeply committed to teaching, Andrew is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Houston, and formerly taught at the University of Utah. He is Artistic Director of the Young Artist World Piano Festival in Minnesota, and gives frequent master classes and lectures around the United States. A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, he earned his Doctorate at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker, and also studied at the University of Minnesota with Lydia Artymiw.

Faculty pianists from the region, including Shazia Ali (PPSC), Susan Grace (Colorado College), Adam Haas (CS Conservatory), Zahari Metchkov (CSU Pueblo), Abe Minzer (PPSC), Moses Swedberg (CSU Pueblo), and Kelly Zuercher (UCCS) perform on the Pikes Peak Piano Stars concert on Jan 30th, 7:30pm.

Student pianists from across campuses of Southern Colorado