Founded in 2015 and directed by piano professor Dr. Susan Chan, the PSU Steinway Piano Series brings internationally recognized performers and educators to Portland for a weekend of public recitals and master classes each year. Acting as a bridge between world-class stages and the college classroom, the series elevates awareness for PSU’s outstanding music program while providing students and concertgoers with access to a broad spectrum of the highest level professional pianists performing today.
 

"one of the secretly best concert series in Portland: PSU’s Steinway Series … brings an impressive array of some of the best pianists alive to the city for concerts and masterclasses."
- Oregon ArtsWatch

Steinway Piano Series guest artist Tom Hick sitting in front of a piano

Spring 2024 Guest Artist: Tom Hicks

The PSU Steinway Piano Series looks forward to its Spring 2024 residency with star pianist Tom Hicks.

Guernsey-born pianist Tom Hicks receives consistent praise for his “brilliantly evocative” (International Piano) and “gorgeously creative playing” (Fanfare)... 

Event Change

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the PSU Steinway Piano Series has reconfigured its Spring 2024 Residency. The Series will no longer host Oxana Yablonskaya this May, but instead, will proceed with events featuring pianist Tom Hicks.

CONCERT

Music at Night starring Tom Hicks 

 

Friday, May 10, 2024
7:00 PM
Lincoln Recital Hall, Room 75

 

This program, inspired by the night, shares works for the piano that are dreamy and atmospheric, and also includes nightmares and fantasies. The concert begins with several of Chopin’s most celebrated nocturnes, before exploring other beloved works of the genre by Scriabin, Debussy, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Clara Schumann. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata concludes what promises to be a popular program with finger-twisting fireworks.

GUEST ARTIST MASTER CLASS

Saturday, May 11, 2024
7:00 PM
Lincoln Recital Hall, Room 75
Free and open to the public. 

Featuring current and former PSU students with Tom Hicks.

FACULTY MASTER CLASS

Sunday, May 12, 2024
2:00 PM
Lincoln Recital Hall, Room 75
Free and open to the public. 

Featuring students from the community with PSU Professor Susan Chan.

These events are presented by the PSU Steinway Piano Series.

Tom Hick's Bio

With his expansive repertoire, Hicks has appeared as a recitalist in venues such as The Wigmore Hall in London, The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, and in many other venues throughout Europe and the United States. He has performed as concerto soloist on more than 60 occasions, including complete cycles of the Rachmaninoff and Brahms Piano Concerti. Hicks is a gold medallist in competitions including the Wales International Piano Competition, the EPTA UK Piano Competition, and the Croydon Piano Concerto Competition. His highly acclaimed discography includes Liszt and Ireland Piano Sonatas, noted for its “consistent excellence” and “commanding performance, balancing the dramatic with the intimate” (Musical Opinion and MusicWeb International), and selected in the America Record Guide Best of 2022 Critics Choice. In 2019, Hicks gave the launch recital as Artistic Director of the Fanny Davies International Piano Series, and in 2012, he co-founded the new music collective Terra Nova. Hicks studied with Murray McLachlan at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, and continued with him on the prestigious joint course at The Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University. He then studied with Boris Berman at Yale University’s School of Music and with James Giles at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in the USA, graduating with a Doctorate in Musical Arts. He is a recipient of the Gold Medal Award and Peter Frankl Piano Prize from the Royal Northern College of Music, and numerous awards from the University of Manchester, having graduated with the highest degree mark ever awarded from the Department of Music. Hicks has taught piano at Yale University and Northwestern University, and is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and Piano, Director of the Piano Department, and Director of Collaborative Piano at Whitman College in Washington State, USA. tomhickspianist.com

Credit for photos: Chris Tostevin.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

The PSU Steinway Piano Series is sponsored by the Arima Schumann Fund of Schwab Charitable, Ausplund Tooze Family Foundation, Layzell Family Foundation, Steinway & Sons Portland, and other donors with additional support from PSU College of the Arts and PSU School of Music & Theater.

Susan Chan headshot

Susan Chan: Piano Professor, Founder, and Director

Thank you for your interest in the PSU Steinway Piano Series. If you have questions about our piano program at PSU, please see ‘Piano at PSU’ below. We look forward to seeing you at future events!

Piano student in recital

Piano at PSU

The PSU School of Music & Theater's Piano program equips pianists with the skills and tools they will need to succeed as professional musicians.

Instructor and student edit a score at the piano

Support the Steinway Piano Series

The PSU Steinway Piano Series is sponsored by the Arima Schumann Fund of Schwab Charitable, Ausplund Tooze Family Foundation, Layzell Family Foundation, Steinway & Sons Portland, and other donors. Join our sponsors and help us continue to bring world-class piano performers to Portland with a gift today!