Piano
Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger has been internationally acclaimed in prestigious newspa- pers and journals for her stunning performances. Critics around the globe have described her playing as “eloquent”, “exquisite” and “spellbinding” and “virtuosic”. With a riveting stage pres- ence, she regularly commands standing ovations from her emotionally charged and spiritually uplifting performances. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described her recital as a “daring, enormously joyous presentation which captured and transfixed the audience”. Fanfare Maga- zine declared that her “Carnival” CD was “exquisitely detailed and full of life”. Indeed, perfor- mances by Ms. Merdinger are a celebration of a life passionately immersed in classical music performance.
Among her many honors, Merdinger is a First Prize Winner of the 2012 and 2017 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in Professional and Duo Piano Categories, the 2013 In- ternational Music Competition of France, Winner of the Dewar’s Young Artists Award in Music, the Artists International Young Musicians Competition, the Artists International Alumni Winners Prize, and the Masterplayers Prize. She was honored to represent the U.S.A. in the prestigious Harveys Leeds International (UK), Montreal International Concours de Musique (CA), William Kappell International and Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competitions (USA). Ms. Merdinger is a Gold Medalist in the Global Music Awards for her CD French Fantasy (Merdinger-Greene Piano Duo), along with Silver Medals for her CDs Carnival (Solo), Soirée (Solo) and Four Centuries (Duo with Violinist David Yonan) and Pianissimo!- The Chicago Debut Concert. All of her recordings have received glowing reviews in publications such as American Record Guide, Classical Sentinel, Audiophile Audition, Fanfare Magazine, The Whole Note, The Hyde Park Herald, Classical Candor, and the Audio-Video Club of Atlanta.
Performing her sold-out solo recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall at age twenty-five, as a Win- ner of Artists International, Merdinger has continued to grace the stages of some of the world’s best concert halls including Merkin Concert Hall, Diligentia Hall in the Hague, Henry Wood Con- cert Hall in Scotland’s National Orchestra Center, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Ravinia’s Ben- nett Gordon Hall, the Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall. Merdinger was presented in her International Debut Recital Tour at the age of 24, under the sponsorship of the In- ternational Concert Administration. Merdinger’s live performances and recordings have been broadcast on WQXR, WFMT, WDAV, CKWR (Canada), BRT-3 (Belgian National Radio), and BBC Television (United Kingdom). She been a featured guest artist on WQXR’s “The Listening Room” hosted by Robert Sherman, and on WFMT’s “Impromptu” program hosted by George Preston, Live from WFMT with Kerry Frumkin, and the “Pianoforte Salon Series”, hosted by David Schwann, as well as the Cable TV show “Bravura”. Susan was also featured solo recital- ist for the Chicago Latino Music Festival and considers the music of Spain and South America one of her specialities. She has also performed for prominent dignitaries and celebrities includ- ing John F. Kennedy, Jr., the Governors of Connecticut and New York for many charitable fundraising events. Her summer music festival performances include recitals and concerts at the Chautauqua, Norfolk, Summit, Fine Arts Music Society and Fontainebleau Music Festivals.
Merdinger enjoys a active schedule performing as a concerto soloist, recitalist, duo pianist, and as a chamber musician. She has collaborated with distinguished principal members of the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera
Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra. Ms Merdinger is a Founding member of “The Five Greenes”, and Pianissimo!-Chicago’s Premiere Piano Ensemble. She has been a regular Visit- ing Artist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series, garnering standing ova- tions for each of her performances with the Tononi Ensemble at The Art Institute and at Sym- phony Center. In recent seasons she has made solo orchestral debuts with The Chicago Phil- harmonic and with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico. With over thirty solo and duo piano concerti in her repertoire, Merdinger has soloed under many distinguished conductors in- cluding Gabriela Diaz Alatriste, Mattia Rondelli, Francesco Milioto, Glenn Cortese, Sandra Dackow, Ari Rudiakov, Marvin von Deck, and Francis Akos, with numerous orchestras including the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, Chicago Philharmonic, Highland Park Strings, Rock- land Symphony, Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Tahoe Symphony Orchestra, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Orchestra of New Jersey, and many others. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Merdinger has championed works by composers such as Morton Gould, Augusta Read Thomas, Ilya Levinson, Margarita Zelenaia, Jeremy Beck, James Stone, Elbio Barilari, Sandro Fazzolari, Aaron Copland, Leroy Anderson, and Aaron Jay Kernis.
Highlights of her 2017-2018 season include a concert performance on the CSO Chamber Music All-Access Series with Principal Woodwinds and Violist of the CSO, collaborative concerts with international prize-winning violinist Michaela Paetsch, National Symphony Orchestra cellist- Steven Honigberg, Juilliard-trained cellist Steven Sigurdson, Lincoln Center Stage violist Sarah Greene, Pianssimo! concerts, a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the North Shore Chamber Orchestra and solo recitals featuring works from her forthcoming CD, Four Centuries II.
Highlights of the 2016-2017 season included Merdinger in performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, performances of Bach-Vival- di’s Concerto for Four Pianos and Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos. chamber music concerts for the Waukegan Chamber Music Society with Sheridan Solisti, Northbrook Two Piano Festival with Pianissimo!, and the continuation of the Complete Beethoven Sonatas for Piano/Violin and Piano/Cello Series for WFMT with National Symphony Orchestra cellist, Steven Honigberg and internationally acclaimed violinist, Ilya Kaler. In November 2016, Merdinger recorded solo piano repertoire by Chopin, Mendelssohn, Copland and Beethoven for Steinway Spirio- released by Steinway in April 2017. Spring/Summer 2017 also featured Merdinger in collaboration with Ital- ian Tenor, Gianni Coletta, and a concert tour in June performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 with James Rawie and the Tahoe Symphony Orchestra.
Conservatory and Ivy-league educated at Yale University, the Yale School of Music, the Manhat- tan School of Music, and the Ecole Normale de Musique in Fontainebleau, France, Merdinger studied with renowned pianists Claude Frank, Constance Keene and Gaby Casadesus, Sey- mour Lipkin and Ward Davenny.
Merdinger is a Piano Faculty member of Concordia University Chicago and the Summit Music Festival in New York. She is Artistic Director of Sheridan Music Studio Presents, a fiscally spon- sored charitable arts organization and project of Fractured Atlas. She is represented by Price Rubin and Partners. www.susanmerdingerpianist.com
July 2017