Welcome to collaborative pianoat the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!
Established in 2004, the graduate program in collaborative piano offers master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees. Pianists receive specialized training in instrumental and vocal accompanying with appropriate emphasis in each student’s area of interest, and take additional coursework in a wide range of topics such as basso continuo and opera coaching techniques. They also gain accompanying experience in the choirs, large ensembles and opera rehearsals, and as a result acquire expanded practical skills and an understanding of the collaborative career possibilities ahead.
One of the unique features of this program is that pianists study with both collaborative piano faculty. In addition to multiple lessons each week with the collaborative piano faculty, students have the opportunity to play for the various performance studios across the college. The entire faculty of the college is an outstanding resource for the program, including the vocal coaching faculty and the acclaimed Takács Quartet.
Degree programs
Margaret McDonald
Pianist Margaret McDonald, a native of Minnesota, is aprofessor of collaborative piano at the University of Colorado Boulder. She joined the College of Music keyboard faculty in the fall of 2004. She helped to develop the college’s new graduate degree program in collaborative piano and directed the undergraduate collaborative curriculum. Praised for her poetic style and versatility,McDonald enjoys a very active performing career and has partnered many distinguished artists includingthe Takács Quartet, Kathleen Winkler, Zuill Bailey, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Ben Kamins, David Shifrin, William VerMeulen, David Jolley, Ian Bousfield, Steven Meadand Velvet Brown.MORE
Alexandra Nguyen
A native of Montréal, Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano Alexandra Nguyen maintains a diverse career as a collaborative pianist, teacherand arts administrator. She is an accomplished pianist who has appeared throughout the United States and Canada including performances at the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York, NY), BargeMusic (Brooklyn, NY), the Strings Music Festival (Steamboat Springs, CO)and theSociete Pro MusicaChamber Music Series (Montréal, Canada). Recent performances include concerts with members of the Takács Quartet, baritone Patrick Mason as well as bassoonist Peter Kolkay, a long-standing collaboration. She has been an invited speaker at the National Association of Schools of Music Annual Meeting, the College Music Society Annual Conference, the Music Teachers National Association National Conventionand the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. MORE
Hsiao-Ling Lin
Teaching Assistant Professorof Collaborative Piano Hsiao-Ling Lin, a native of Taiwan, joined the keyboard department faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder in fall of 2011. Lin enjoys an active performing career as a collaborative pianist throughout the world in such prestigious halls as the Weill Hall at Carnegie in New York and the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow. Her performances have been broadcasted live over the radio and she has collaborated with many distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Matt Haimovitz, Kenneth Grant, Basil Reeveand members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and so on. MORE
Suyeon Kim
Korean pianist Suyeon Kim is a teaching assistant professorof collaborative pianoat the University of ColoradoBoulder since 2013. Kim is an experienced and versatile collaboratorwith significant instrumental and vocal accompanying experience. She earned a BMin piano performance and an MMin collaborative piano in Korea, an additional MM in piano accompanying and chamber music from the Eastman School of Music, and a DMAin collaborative piano from the University of Texas at Austinstudying with Kihoon Yang, Jean Barr, Anne Epperson and Jonathan Feldman. MORE
Forrest Howell
Forrest Howell is a musician and writer from Woodinville, Washington. His creative interests range from historical keyboards to contemporary Broadway to multidisciplinary improvisation. Recent performance highlights include appearances at Detroit’s Fisher Building, Music Academy of the West, the Gilmore Festival, Hill Auditorium with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Round Top Festival and Porto PianoFest as an artist in residence.
As a collaborator, Howell has shared the stage with musicians such as Lea Salonga, James Dunham, Will Hagen, Carol Wincenc, Nancy Ambrose King, Matt Albert, Catherine Boyack, Nigel Short and Tenebrae Choir, Patrick Dupré Quigley and Seraphic Fire as well as principal players and members of the Minnesota Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Met Opera Orchestra, Utah Symphony and the Colorado Symphony. MORE