API Summer Festival 2023
June 4th - 10th | Phoenix, Arizona

This year’s Summer Festival was a wonderful exploration of music!

To see what has been Updated, click here.

Our 7th Festival season opened with a Faculty Artist Concert featuring inspiring performances by our internationally acclaimed faculty. Participants then engaged in a week of enriching master classes and workshops on a variety of topics helpful to emerging pianists, including performance practice, theory, sight-reading, improvisation, and more. The festival closed with a celebration of talent and artistry in the Student Artists’ Showcase Recital.

This year, in addition to our Summer Festival programming, the Arizona Piano Institute offered a unique forum for teachers of piano exploring creative approaches to piano pedagogy. Last year, the API Teacher Forum was led by Eugene Pridonoff, Professor Emeritus of the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati and was very favorably received. API hosted the Teacher’s Forum again this year.

This year the API Summer Festival was co-sponsored by the Phoenix College Music Program. Phoenix College is a community college centrally located at Thomas and 11th Ave, in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a charming campus, first constructed in 1920, that offers an intimate and delightful mix of historic and contemporary facilities. Located at the north end of the Encanto district, Phoenix College is easy to drive to, with abundant parking close to where the Summer Festival will be held.

The Arizona Piano Institute is very appreciative of the support provided by our generous donors.

We are also pleased to announce that this year we are a recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Pianos for this year’s Summer Festival were graciously provided by Phoenix College and by Southwest Pianos, who has been a proud sponsor of many piano events throughout Arizona for many years.

Meet the Faculty

This year’s API festival faculty were world-renowned artists with years of experience performing, teaching, and inspiring others through their talent and love for the piano.

Douglas Humpherys’ concert career has spanned four decades across four continents. During recent years, he has concertized in many of the major cities of Asia. Currently listed on the Artists roster of Steinway and Sons, Mr. Humpherys often performs in Europe and throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Humpherys is currently Professor and Chair of the Piano Department at Eastman School of Music.

Elisabeth Pridonoff is internationally known as a pianist and pedagogue and for over three decades was on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her students have won many prestigious awards and hold positions at institutions world-wide. Professor Pridonoff is a Steinway artist. She continues to teach at the Brevard Music Festival and now serves as Co-Artistic Director of the International Institute for the Advanced Study of Piano Performance (IIASPP), LLC.

Eckart Sellheim and Dian Baker have combined their years of artistic experiences into the perfect medium – the piano duo. Since 1998 they have concertized throughout the US and Europe. The Duo was invited to perform a recital on Clara Schumann’s 1827 fortepiano at the Schumannhaus in Zwickau, Germany. Professor Sellheim maintains an active performance schedule, having made concert tours in the USA, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, and throughout Europe. Internationally acclaimed pianist Dian Baker has toured both as soloist and chamber music collaborator in 30 countries on four continents.

Become a Volunteer

If your teacher or parent is interested in attending the Summer Festival as an auditor or as a volunteer, please visit our Become a Volunteer webpage to learn more. You may also reach us at info@azpianoinstitute.org. You may also indicate your interest on the Registration Form. The success of the Summer Festival has always been a reflection of the wonderful volunteers that have contributed their time to this event!

Support API

Become a Friend of API and make enriching arts education possible for young students. API is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All gifts are tax deductible and we would love to hear from you.

We welcome comments and questions. You can contact us at info@azpianoinstitute.org and an API Board member will get back to you shortly.

Excited about participating? We look forward to seeing you at API Summer Festival 2024!

The Arizona Piano Institute fosters enriching solo and collaborative experiences for young musicians and educators in Arizona through various piano-focused musical interactions with renowned performing artists and pedagogues.