James Giles
Associate Professor, Piano
jgiles@northwestern.edu - 847-491-5733
DMusA, Manhattan School of Music
First-prize winner, New Orleans International Piano Competition, Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, Music Teachers National Association Competition. Recipient, American Pianists Association Fellowship Award; Fulbright scholar. Concerto appearances in New York’s Alice Tully Hall, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. Petersburg’s Glinka Hall, and at the Kharkiv (Ukraine) Philharmonic. Recitals at Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Salle Cortot (Paris), Kleine Musikhalle (Hamburg), Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, Kennedy Center. Guest teacher/recitalist at Shanghai Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, Chopin Academy Warsaw, Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory. Premiered/recorded works by Bolcom, Curtis-Smith, Hough, Liebermann, Rorem, Thomas, and Wild. Piano division chair, Eastern Music Festival. Former faculty member, University of North Texas, Interlochen Arts Academy. Studied with Byron Janis, Lazar Berman, and Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School, Nelita True at Eastman School of Music, and Robert Shannon at Oberlin College. For more information
Sylvia Wang
Associate Professor, Piano
sylvia-wang@northwestern.edu - 847-491-3906
DMusA, Eastman School of Music
Solo and collaborative performances throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Far East. Recordings of Debussy on Cadenza Classics, chamber music on Newport Classics and Boston Records, contemporary American music on Northeastern and CRI. Winner and finalist in various competitions, including Royal Overseas League Festival in London, AVANTI award leading to a debut in London's Purcell Room, Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, J.S. Bach International Piano Competition. Honorary Associate, Royal Academy of Music in London. Presented as guest teacher/panelist by organizations such as The Chautauqua Institution, United States Information Service, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Yamaha Music Malaysia. Students have won awards at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, Union League Competition, Tokyo International Piano Duo Competition, Shostakovich Competition in St. Petersburg. Studied with David Burge at the Eastman School of Music and with Hamish Milne and Dennis Murdoch at the Royal Academy of Music as an Associated Board scholar.
Marcia Bosits
Associate Professor, Piano (piano pedagogy)
m-bosits@northwestern.edu
847-491-5735
Marcia Bosits
BACKGROUND
DMA, Northwestern University
Director of piano pedagogy. Marcia Bosits received her doctor of music degree from Northwestern, where she studied piano with Wanda Paul and Arthur Tollefson. The recipient of a Kosciuszko Foundation Fellowship, she also earned an Artist Diploma from the Warsaw Conservatory in Poland. Dr. Bosits has held national positions in professional organizations including Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the World Piano Conference and the International Fulbright Selection Committee. Her articles have appeared in such journals as Clavier, Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, and Piano Journal. Active as an adjudicator, soloist and chamber musician, she has served as a presenter in piano pedagogy and performance throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East.
Toni-Marie Montgomery
Bienen School of Music Dean and Professor, Piano
t-montgomery@northwestern.edu
847-491-7552
Toni-Marie Montgomery
BACKGROUND
DMA, University of Michigan
Dean since July 1, 2003. Toni-Marie Montgomery is the second recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano chamber music and accompanying from the University of Michigan. She also received the Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. Montgomery graduated magna cum laude from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts.
Montgomery was a founding member of the Black Music Repertory Ensemble of Columbia College of Chicago. This fifteen-member ensemble specialized in performing works by black composers and promoted appreciation for the black musical heritage. Montgomery continues to give recitals and has performed throughout the United States and in Austria, Brazil, Hawaii, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Montgomery is presently Dean and Professor of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Previous positions were: Professor and Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas; Director of the School of Music at Arizona State University; Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University; Assistant Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut; and Assistant Director of the School of Music and Artistic Director of the Music Performance Institute at Western Michigan University.
Toni-Marie Montgomery was elected Treasurer of the National Association of Schools of Music during the annual meeting of the Association. She will serve as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors through November 2016.
Yasuko Oura
Lecturer, Piano (collaborative piano)
yasuko.oura@northwestern.edu
Yasuko Oura
BACKGROUND
Yasuko Oura has received national recognition as a virtuoso collaborative pianist, with concert appearances in notable venues as Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Hall. Also known as a noted vocal coach and repetiteur, she has worked with such distinguished conductors as Harry Bicket, Jane Glover, and Christopher Larkin. Ms. Oura is the principal production pianist and coach for Florentine Opera and is also on the music staff for Des Moines Metro Opera, and formerly for Fort Worth Opera, Madison Opera, Toledo Opera, and AIMS in Graz, Austria. Active as a recitalist, past seasons include performances with singers such as Susanne Mentzer and Susanna Phillips, as well as performances for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Bel Canto Foundation, WFMT, and WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. In addition, she is the artistic director of the NSUC Concert Series. She currently resides in Chicago, where she works with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Grant Park Orchestra Chorus, Music of the Baroque, Light Opera Works, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Wisconsin District. Ms. Oura has received fellowships to San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Opera Theater Center and Music Academy of the West and has performed for numerous masterclasses, including those for José Van Dam, Rudolf Piernay and Marilyn Horne’s Song Continues series. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow.
