KEYBOARD

The Keyboard Chamber Music Area of the Moores School of Music offers coachings in two-piano and four-hand literature as well as literature with mixed instrumentation. Students of all levels are able to enroll; subsequently, their playing levels and interests are assessed and matched, creating the ideal learning environment. At the end of each semester, jury examinations are held in an open format, with all students enrolled present to serve as a supportive audience.

Crossover coachings with other areas are encouraged so that students receive highly-detailed instruction. These coachings are coordinated by the chamber music area directors. An successful example of crossover coaching was the Moores Piano Trio (Mikylah Myers - violin, Erika Johnson - cello, and Tomoko Isshiki, piano). This trio, having been coached by Cellist Laszlo Varga and Pianist Timothy Hester, achieved success on a national level by winning the silver medal in the 2000 Carmel Chamber Music Competition.

Pre-formed groups are encouraged to enroll. For example, if a group would like to organize their own 'named' ensemble, they may work on approved literature and are encouraged to pursue national competitions and festivals to help establish future careers in chamber music.

The piano faculty at the Moores School of Music recognize that the greatest players out there in the professional world today also excel in the area of chamber music. It is the faculty's vision that our students who aspire to great solo careers will be trained to excel in their chamber music skills.

ABOUT THE CHAMBER COACHES:

Native Houstonian TIMOTHY HESTER graduated from The Juilliard School as a student of the renowned pedagogue Adele Marcus. Currently, Mr. Hester is Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music where he also enjoys instructing students in the skills of sight reading, collaborative techniques and also serves as Director of Keyboard Collaborative Arts.  Named Outstanding Faculty Member of the year in 2003 as presented by the Moores Society, Mr. Hester works with many vocalists in the Houston area and has taught Opera Studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and is currently on the faculty of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.  Mr. Hester’s has appeared worldwide in venues in Britain, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. He has been a regular performing faculty member of the Schlern International Music Festival in Northern Italy.  In the United States, he has performed the NYC Bargemusic Series, the Ojai Festival in California, the Park City International Chamber Music Festival in Utah, the Texas Music Festival, and the OK Mozart Festival in Oklahoma as well as performing with Da Camera, a Houston-based chamber music ensemble.  He has especially enjoyed collaboration with such artists as Paula Robison, Patricia Racette, Ransom Wilson, Christiaan Bor, Nathaniel Rosen, Arturo Delmoni, Nina Beilina, William Sharp, Eugenia Zukerman, Leon Speirer, Robert White, Mary Jane Johnson, Chi Liming, Carmen Pelton, Uri Pianka, Phyllis Pancella, Stefano Algieri, Lucy Shelton, Karol Bennett, Isabelle Ganz, Mitchell Stern, Paul Neubauer, Patrick Wroblewski, Joan Gibbons and Reiko Watanabe -  as well as with his esteemed University of Houston colleagues.  Mr. Hester’s discography includes twentieth century works of Robert Beaser, Arnold Rosner, Michael Horvit, Roy Harris, Samuel Barber and Bohuslav Martinu as well as the solo CD “KUHF Sessions”, the first recording made in Houston Public Radio’s new studio.  In addition, Mr. Hester studied extensively with Albert Hirsh and maintains a busy accompanying schedule, also having played master classes for Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Carol Wincenc, Richard Stoltzman, Elena Nikolaidi, Renato Capecchi, Vladimir Spivakov, Ruggiero Ricci and many others. Additionally, he is Chief Artistic Consultant for Rehearsalnet.com, an internet-based business that offers downloadable midi-file accompaniments for training soloists and accompanists in their musical preparation.

BRIAN SUITS wears the various hats of pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher. As pianist, Suits has performed concerti with both the Jupiter Symphony under the direction of Jens Nygaard, and the Sejong Soloists under the direction of Hyo Kang, among others. He has recorded a set of 23 CDs for Chung-Eum Music Publishers, released in Korea in 1995; included are some three dozen sonatas of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, the Bach Inventions, and the complete Czerny Etudes. His first solo album of original works, "The Way Back," was released in spring of 2004 by Musikdorf Records, receiving high critical praise from the Korean music press. As composer, his output runs the gamut from serious modern works to jazz pieces and popular songs. His classical compositions have been heard in Merkin Hall and on WQXR and WNYC Radio in New York City. He was a finalist in the 1995 Schirmer Music Young Composer's Competition, and in the 1997 Renee Fisher Foundation Composer Awards. He premiered his piano concerto (2003) with the KangNeung Symphony in KangNeung, Korea, in December of 2003. In June of 2004, violist Roger Chase premiered Suits's Romance for viola and orchestra (2004); on this same concert, pianist Haewon Song performed a movement of Suits's piano concerto. In August of 2004, Suits conducted the premiere of his Concertpiece for violin and orchestra (2002) with his wife, violinist Kyung Sun Lee, as soloist. In Korea, Suits has conducted the Prime Philharmonic and SangRok Symphony orchestras, as well as the Cadenza Chamber Orchestra Chamber Players 21. In November of '04, he conducted a performance of film music by award-winning Korean composer Byeongwoo Lee. Suits conducted the French Chamber Orchestra in France in October of 2004, and in March '05 conducted them in performances at Trinity Church in New York City, the National Gallery in Washington D. C., and at Oberlin College in Ohio. He has also conducted the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra in Spokane, and a performance of the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings at Yale University. Suits is often seen on the concert stage in collaboration with other musicians, especially his wife, violinist Kyung Sun Lee. The Lee/Suits duo has performed nationwide under the auspices of both Community Concerts and Allied Concerts. The duo has recorded two CDs together: the first features music of Prokofiev, Debussy, and Bartok; the second, music of Saint-Saens, Godard, Chausson, Achron, and Suits himself. Their first CD received outstanding reviews from both Strad and Fanfare magazines. Suits has also recorded along with Lee and soprano Jennifer Aylmer as "Trio Con Voce," and with tenor Robert Swenson. Suits was a member of the faculty at the Yale School of Music from 1990-2002. Suits received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with David Renner, and his MM from USC, where he studied with Brooks Smith and Jean Barr.