SHELEST PIANO DUO
Anna and Dmitri Shelest, pianists
SHELEST PIANO DUO
“Be warned- it will knock you right off your seat!” -the Whole Note
“…refreshing delight… boisterous dexterity” -Stage & Cinema
Praised for their “stirring performances of rare repertory” (Fanfare Magazine), Shelest Piano Duo is a husband-and-wife team of ANNA AND DMITRI SHELEST who take their roots to the music school in Ukraine. At their official Carnegie Hall debut
in February 2018, their CD release of Ukrainian Rhapsody brought the renewed attention to the music of their homeland. The Duo, who met as classmates in middle school, began performing together after their marriage in the U.S. Their inventive programs brought them to a broad array of venues from concert stages to state functions, and, in words of Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, “realized diplomacy through music.”
Dmitri Shelest started studying piano at the age of six in Ukraine and soon enrolled into the Kharkiv Special Music School, succeeding at his first contest when he was 11 years old. It was also piano that brought him across to the U.S. after he was offered a full scholarship to Northern Kentucky University as a bachelor’s degree candidate in piano performance.
While at NKU, Mr. Shelest won top prizes in various international piano competitions and participated in music festivals. After graduating in 2005, he pursued a post- baccalaureate degree in entrepreneurship. Since relocating with his family to New York, he has been active as a chamber musician in addition to being a record producer and managing a piano retail showroom.
Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of “a fiery sensibility and warm touch,” Anna Shelest is an international award-winning musician who has thrilled audiences throughout the world. Anna, a champion of esoteric repertoire, is currently collaborating with the legendary conductor Neeme Järvi on a project of recording the complete works for piano and orchestra by Anton Rubinstein.
Anna made her orchestral debut at the age of 12 years old with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.” Since then, she has been a soloist with world-class orchestras such as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra among others.
As a soloist, she has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Born in Ukraine, Mrs. Shelest received her early music education at Kharkiv Special Music School. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree at Northern Kentucky University, she graduated from The Juilliard School with a master’s degree.
Today, Anna and Dmitri Shelest make their home in New York City with their two sons, Ivan and Alexey.
“Be warned- it will knock you right off your seat!” -the Whole Note
“…refreshing delight… boisterous dexterity” -Stage & Cinema
Praised for their “stirring performances of rare repertory” (Fanfare Magazine), Shelest Piano Duo is a husband-and-wife team of ANNA AND DMITRI SHELEST who take their roots to the music school in Ukraine. At their official Carnegie Hall debut
in February 2018, their CD release of Ukrainian Rhapsody brought the renewed attention to the music of their homeland. The Duo, who met as classmates in middle school, began performing together after their marriage in the U.S. Their inventive programs brought them to a broad array of venues from concert stages to state functions, and, in words of Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, “realized diplomacy through music.”
Dmitri Shelest started studying piano at the age of six in Ukraine and soon enrolled into the Kharkiv Special Music School, succeeding at his first contest when he was 11 years old. It was also piano that brought him across to the U.S. after he was offered a full scholarship to Northern Kentucky University as a bachelor’s degree candidate in piano performance.
While at NKU, Mr. Shelest won top prizes in various international piano competitions and participated in music festivals. After graduating in 2005, he pursued a post- baccalaureate degree in entrepreneurship. Since relocating with his family to New York, he has been active as a chamber musician in addition to being a record producer and managing a piano retail showroom.
Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of “a fiery sensibility and warm touch,” Anna Shelest is an international award-winning musician who has thrilled audiences throughout the world. Anna, a champion of esoteric repertoire, is currently collaborating with the legendary conductor Neeme Järvi on a project of recording the complete works for piano and orchestra by Anton Rubinstein.
Anna made her orchestral debut at the age of 12 years old with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.” Since then, she has been a soloist with world-class orchestras such as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra among others.
As a soloist, she has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Born in Ukraine, Mrs. Shelest received her early music education at Kharkiv Special Music School. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree at Northern Kentucky University, she graduated from The Juilliard School with a master’s degree.
Today, Anna and Dmitri Shelest make their home in New York City with their two sons, Ivan and Alexey.
FISHER PIANO DUO
Christopher & Katherine Fisher, pianists
The FISHER PIANO DUO has been delighting audiences throughout the United States with innovative and engaging programming of piano duet and duo literature since 2004. As dedicated educators and proponents of collaborative music making, the duo frequently serves as featured artists and clinicians at university, community music school, and civic events. Passionate educators and scholars, the Fishers are co-authors of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press).
KATHERINE FISHER is co-author of the Piano Safari method (www.pianosafari.com) which is used piano students and teachers around the globe. She serves on the faculty of the Athens Community Music School at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Her responsibilities include teaching private piano lessons as well as coordinating the Piano Preparatory Program (group lessons) for children who are beginners at the instrument. Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, having most recently served as recording secretary for the OhioMTA. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice- President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.
A native of Ohio, Katherine earned degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance). Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.
Katherine Fisher is a Yamaha Artist.
CHRISTOPHER FISHER is Professor of Piano at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he co-chairs the Keyboard Division and directs the nationally recognized undergraduate and graduate piano performance and pedagogy programs. He is the Artistic Director of the Ohio University Piano Pedagogy Seminar and is a Faculty Fellow for the 1804 Scholars Program. Dr. Fisher served as Director of the Ohio University School of Music from 2020-2022 and Assistant Director from 2019-2020. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010), the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. A Chinese translation of Teaching Piano in Groups is also available. Dr. Fisher is the co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016) and co-author of Functional Skills for Pianists (Oxford University Press, 2022). He is also co-editing the Oxford Handbook for Piano Pedagogy (Oxford University Press) with Dr. Sally Cathcart. He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.
In demand as a workshop clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures nationally and internationally, including the National Conferences of the Music Teachers National Association (Washington, D.C., 2001; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007; Atlanta, Georgia, 2009; San Antonio, Texas, 2016; Orlando, Florida, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia, 2024), the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (Lombard, Illinois, 2013; 2017; 2019), the Music & Drama Education Expo (London, England, 2018), Centro para la Pedagogia de los Instruments de Cuerda (CEPIC) (Madrid, Spain, 2023), the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (Norman, Oklahoma, 2006; Austin, Texas, 2010), the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (Canberra, Australia, 2008), Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba (Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2016), The Curious Piano Teachers Live Conferences (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2018 and Oxford, England, 2018) and the American Music Therapy Association (Orlando, Florida, 2005). He has served as a guest lecturer at leading universities and conservatories across the U.S. and abroad including recent engagements at The Juilliard School in New York (USA), the Tianjin Juilliard School (China), the Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Oxford (UK), and Trinity Laban Conservatoire (UK).
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet and duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. The Fisher Piano Duo was awarded first prize in the Adult Duo Division of the Graves Piano and Organ Company/OhioMTA Piano Competition in 2007. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
Dr. Fisher is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and has served as Vice-President for Conferences and Vice-President for Membership for the Ohio Music Teachers Association; he presently serves as Collegiate Chapter Chair. He is the faculty advisor for the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA, recipient of the 2021, 2019, and 2015 MTNA Collegiate Chapter Award. Dr. Fisher maintains a studio of pre-college students who have been successful at state and regional piano competitions and festivals. He frequently serves as an adjudicator and master class clinician at piano festivals and competitions throughout the United States and abroad, including the MTNA Stecher & Horowitz Two Piano Competition, the OHIO International Piano Duet & Duo Competition, and the United States Virtuoso Artists International Piano Competition.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University (Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy) and Northwest Missouri State University (Bachelor of Arts). He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship. His piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Edward Gates, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Julie Bees, Sylvia Coats, Richard Bobo, and Betty Preston.
Dr. Fisher resides in Albany, Ohio with his wife Katherine and their children Isaiah and Anna.
Christopher Fisher is a Yamaha Artist.
www.chrisfisherpiano.com
Visit http://www.chrisfisherpiano.com/fisher-piano-duo.html for more information.
KATHERINE FISHER is co-author of the Piano Safari method (www.pianosafari.com) which is used piano students and teachers around the globe. She serves on the faculty of the Athens Community Music School at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Her responsibilities include teaching private piano lessons as well as coordinating the Piano Preparatory Program (group lessons) for children who are beginners at the instrument. Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, having most recently served as recording secretary for the OhioMTA. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice- President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.
A native of Ohio, Katherine earned degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance). Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.
Katherine Fisher is a Yamaha Artist.
CHRISTOPHER FISHER is Professor of Piano at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he co-chairs the Keyboard Division and directs the nationally recognized undergraduate and graduate piano performance and pedagogy programs. He is the Artistic Director of the Ohio University Piano Pedagogy Seminar and is a Faculty Fellow for the 1804 Scholars Program. Dr. Fisher served as Director of the Ohio University School of Music from 2020-2022 and Assistant Director from 2019-2020. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010), the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. A Chinese translation of Teaching Piano in Groups is also available. Dr. Fisher is the co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016) and co-author of Functional Skills for Pianists (Oxford University Press, 2022). He is also co-editing the Oxford Handbook for Piano Pedagogy (Oxford University Press) with Dr. Sally Cathcart. He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.
In demand as a workshop clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures nationally and internationally, including the National Conferences of the Music Teachers National Association (Washington, D.C., 2001; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007; Atlanta, Georgia, 2009; San Antonio, Texas, 2016; Orlando, Florida, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia, 2024), the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (Lombard, Illinois, 2013; 2017; 2019), the Music & Drama Education Expo (London, England, 2018), Centro para la Pedagogia de los Instruments de Cuerda (CEPIC) (Madrid, Spain, 2023), the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (Norman, Oklahoma, 2006; Austin, Texas, 2010), the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (Canberra, Australia, 2008), Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba (Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2016), The Curious Piano Teachers Live Conferences (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2018 and Oxford, England, 2018) and the American Music Therapy Association (Orlando, Florida, 2005). He has served as a guest lecturer at leading universities and conservatories across the U.S. and abroad including recent engagements at The Juilliard School in New York (USA), the Tianjin Juilliard School (China), the Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Oxford (UK), and Trinity Laban Conservatoire (UK).
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet and duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. The Fisher Piano Duo was awarded first prize in the Adult Duo Division of the Graves Piano and Organ Company/OhioMTA Piano Competition in 2007. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
Dr. Fisher is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and has served as Vice-President for Conferences and Vice-President for Membership for the Ohio Music Teachers Association; he presently serves as Collegiate Chapter Chair. He is the faculty advisor for the Ohio University Collegiate Chapter of MTNA, recipient of the 2021, 2019, and 2015 MTNA Collegiate Chapter Award. Dr. Fisher maintains a studio of pre-college students who have been successful at state and regional piano competitions and festivals. He frequently serves as an adjudicator and master class clinician at piano festivals and competitions throughout the United States and abroad, including the MTNA Stecher & Horowitz Two Piano Competition, the OHIO International Piano Duet & Duo Competition, and the United States Virtuoso Artists International Piano Competition.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University (Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy) and Northwest Missouri State University (Bachelor of Arts). He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship. His piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Edward Gates, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Julie Bees, Sylvia Coats, Richard Bobo, and Betty Preston.
Dr. Fisher resides in Albany, Ohio with his wife Katherine and their children Isaiah and Anna.
Christopher Fisher is a Yamaha Artist.
www.chrisfisherpiano.com
Visit http://www.chrisfisherpiano.com/fisher-piano-duo.html for more information.
Emely Phelps, pianist
Praised by the Boston Globe for her “fleet, energetic, and bright-toned” playing, pianist EMELY PHELPS enjoys a flexible and multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. A finalist for the 2019 Pro Musicis International Award, Emely has given nearly 40 performances over the past two years, including recitals in Ohio, Washington, Iowa, and North Carolina. Highlights of her 2021-2022 concert season included performances of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and Ohio University Symphony Orchestra, solo performances at Denison University and Bucknell University, and duo recitals with pianist Oksana Ezhokina, violinist Christine Harada Li, and flutist Hannah Porter Occeña.
Emely made her solo orchestral debut at the age of 16 with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has since been a featured concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. She has presented solo recitals throughout North America and Europe with a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to Carter, and is a particularly passionate advocate for new music, having given world premieres of more than a dozen compositions and worked closely with Jörg Widmann, Shulamit Ran, Lei Liang, Robert McClure, and Richard Wernick in performances of their works.
As a founding member of Trio Cleonice, Emely spent eight years with the ensemble, performing across the United States, touring Europe - including a recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - and winning second prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China. The group also served as the Graduate Piano Trio-in-Residence at New England Conservatory for three years, and from 2014-2016 curated a monthly chamber music series, Trio Cleonice and Friends, in Brookline, Massachusetts, with the aim of making chamber music an accessible and integral part of the community.
An in-demand collaborator, Emely performs regularly at the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival and with Electric Earth Concerts, and has attended numerous other chamber music festivals, including five summers at Yellow Barn and three summers at Kneisel Hall. She has performed as a guest artist with the Borromeo String Quartet, and appears on flutist Hannah Porter Occeña’s recently released CD, Confluence. Emely is in the process of recording a second album with Hannah, as well as a CD for the Delos label with violinist Dawn Wohn, featuring violin and piano works by Amy Beach, Vivian Fung, and Irene Britton Smith.
Emely is currently Artist-Teacher of Piano at Ohio University, where she co-chairs the keyboard division, teaches applied piano, chamber music, and keyboard repertoire, and also directs the graduate collaborative piano degree program. Prior to her appointment at OU, she was the head piano TA at Stony Brook University, teaching for and managing their undergraduate piano program. Emely has given master classes at numerous universities, and will be a featured presenter at Ohio University’s Piano Pedagogy Seminar in June 2022, speaking about implicit grammar and instinctive musicality.
A native of Frederick, Maryland, Emely began her piano studies with Carole Kriewaldt and Marjorie Lee before receiving her B.M. and M.M. from the Juilliard School as a student of Julian Martin. She also studied with Vivian Weilerstein during Trio Cleonice’s tenure at NEC, earning a Graduate Diploma in chamber music, and most recently was awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University under the guidance of Christina Dahl.
Emely made her solo orchestral debut at the age of 16 with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has since been a featured concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. She has presented solo recitals throughout North America and Europe with a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to Carter, and is a particularly passionate advocate for new music, having given world premieres of more than a dozen compositions and worked closely with Jörg Widmann, Shulamit Ran, Lei Liang, Robert McClure, and Richard Wernick in performances of their works.
As a founding member of Trio Cleonice, Emely spent eight years with the ensemble, performing across the United States, touring Europe - including a recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - and winning second prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China. The group also served as the Graduate Piano Trio-in-Residence at New England Conservatory for three years, and from 2014-2016 curated a monthly chamber music series, Trio Cleonice and Friends, in Brookline, Massachusetts, with the aim of making chamber music an accessible and integral part of the community.
An in-demand collaborator, Emely performs regularly at the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival and with Electric Earth Concerts, and has attended numerous other chamber music festivals, including five summers at Yellow Barn and three summers at Kneisel Hall. She has performed as a guest artist with the Borromeo String Quartet, and appears on flutist Hannah Porter Occeña’s recently released CD, Confluence. Emely is in the process of recording a second album with Hannah, as well as a CD for the Delos label with violinist Dawn Wohn, featuring violin and piano works by Amy Beach, Vivian Fung, and Irene Britton Smith.
Emely is currently Artist-Teacher of Piano at Ohio University, where she co-chairs the keyboard division, teaches applied piano, chamber music, and keyboard repertoire, and also directs the graduate collaborative piano degree program. Prior to her appointment at OU, she was the head piano TA at Stony Brook University, teaching for and managing their undergraduate piano program. Emely has given master classes at numerous universities, and will be a featured presenter at Ohio University’s Piano Pedagogy Seminar in June 2022, speaking about implicit grammar and instinctive musicality.
A native of Frederick, Maryland, Emely began her piano studies with Carole Kriewaldt and Marjorie Lee before receiving her B.M. and M.M. from the Juilliard School as a student of Julian Martin. She also studied with Vivian Weilerstein during Trio Cleonice’s tenure at NEC, earning a Graduate Diploma in chamber music, and most recently was awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University under the guidance of Christina Dahl.
