Jeremy Samolesky

Jeremy Samolesky, a native of Manitoba, Canada, serves as Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard Studies at Auburn University. Known for his passion for both solo and collaborative performances, Samolesky has appeared on concert stages across four continents including a full recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., broadcast nationally on NPR’s “Performance Today.” Samolesky performs and teaches regularly at universities and conservatories around the globe, with recent appearances throughout China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, Ecuador, Serbia, and Italy along with hundreds of performances and masterclasses around the U.S. His debut solo CD on Centaur Records was praised by critics as “brilliant,” “distinguished,” and “full of intensity and drama.” His subsequent CD with clarinetist David Odom Max Reger: The Complete Works for Clarinet and Piano, was released by Albany Records. Samolesky was selected as the 1st Place winner of the 2016-17 American Prize in Piano Performance, Professional Division, prompting head judge Jeffrey Biegel to write: “Love this playing, very beautiful and sensitive; has tremendous potential for garnering major attention.”

Festival appearances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Orford Arts Centre (Quebec), the Agassiz Music Festival (Winnipeg), the Courtenay Music Festival (B.C.), the Methow Music Festival (WA), the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival (Italy), and the Chigiana Music Academy (Siena). Broadcasts of his performances have been heard on Seattle’s KING FM, Canada’s CBC and CJOB, WDAZ (ND), Troy Public Radio (AL) and Columbus Public Radio (GA). Dr. Samolesky was also featured in a documentary on the piano music of Sergei Prokofiev, produced by the Manitoba Television Network. Dedicated to the promotion of new music, Samolesky often works directly with living composers in preparing performances of their works, having given recent premieres by composers such as David Maslanka, David Plylar, and Carl Vollrath.

As a teacher, Dr. Samolesky’s students are frequent competition winners and regularly receive prestigious scholarships and assistantships at renowned graduate music programs throughout the U.S. For his achievements, he was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching” award from Auburn University. In demand as an adjudicator, Samolesky regularly serves as a judge throughout the U.S. and internationally, most recently for the 2018 Hong Kong Schools Piano Competitions. Dr. Samolesky achieved the rare distinction of graduating with two doctoral degrees (Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano) and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Samolesky’s personal page is found at Jeremysamolesky.com.