Michael Esch - Piano

With an infectiously flamboyant keyboard manner, Michael Esch has been the recipient of numerous awards including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Chalmers Foundation. A concerto debut award presented under the auspices of International Symphonic Workshops Ltd. permitted Michael to debut in Europe with the Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria in 1999. Michael is a Silver Medal Laureate of the Ludmilla Knezkova Hussey International Piano Competition.

Recent concert appearances include recitals at the Glenn Gould Studio/CBC broadcast, the Canadian University Music Society and a concerto appearance with the Toronto Philharmonia. Michael's upcoming appearances include concerto appearances with the Guelph, Huronia and Thunder Bay Symphonies, in addition to a host of solo recitals and chamber collaborations throughout Canada and the United States.

Michael Esch is in the process of completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University in Houston Texas. His major teacher at Rice has been Robert Roux; Michael has also coached extensively at Rice with Jon Kimura Parker. In Canada, Michael completed a Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction in performance from McGill University where his teachers included Dorothy Morton and Tom Plaunt. Pre-collage studies occurred in Guelph, Ontario with Rosemary Collins.

Further studies have occurred in a number of prestigious summer festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festivale, Prague International Piano Masterclasses and the Chautauqua Institute in New York. Over the course of his studies, Michael has been featured in master coachings with such internationally acclaimed pianists as Anton Kuerti, Emmanuel Ax and Lazar Berman.

Michael is also gaining a reputation as a teacher. This year he presented masterclasses at the University of Texas at El Paso and for Guelph ORMTA. His students have been accepted into a number of important undergraduate degree programs in Texas. Most recently Michael coordinated Piano Fest '03, an intensive summer program for gifted pre-collage students from around the southern U.S. He was also the only graduate student to serve on faculty. Michael has been re-appointed coordinator of Piano Fest'04 slated to take place this coming June '04.

He resides in Toronto, Canada with his wife and two year old daughter. Interested high-intermediate to advanced level students can contact Michael at michaelesch@rogers.com or (905) 731-7659. For further information on Michael Esch please visit his web-site at www.michaelesch.com