-
Jeremy Samolesky, piano
UW Music alumnus Jeremy Samolesky, former piano student of Robin McCabe who is now professor of piano at Auburn University, leads a master class with UW piano students.
Artist Bio
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 first place winner of the 2016-17 American Prize in
Piano Performance, Professional Division, prompting head judge Jeffrey Biegel to write: “Love his
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.
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. He received his
MM at the University of Washington under Dr. Robin McCabe and BM at the University of Manitoba
studying with Dr. Delores Keahey. Samolesky spends his summers as Artist Faculty at the Orfeo
International Music Festival in the Italian Alps.