B I O G R A P H Y

 

Stefan Bernhard was born into a family of classical pianists and started his formal training at age 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Throughout his studies, he won a series of competitions and awards, including Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, MTNA Junior Competition, Finalist in the Kingsville International Competition, full scholarship recipient at Schlern International Music Festival in Vols am Schlern, Italy 2003, finalist at Ulrich Piano Competition at the University of Maryland, and the Northern Lights Piano Festival in Sweden. In 2018 and 2019 he performed in gala concerts at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and the Adrienne Arsht Center in Downtown Miami.  In addition, he participated in masterclasses of world-leading pianists, including Vladimir Krainev, Seymour Bernstein, Andrey Ponochevney, and Walter Hautzig.

 

He received his BFA Cum Laude in Piano Performance at Tulane University, studying with Faina Lushtak, and continued his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music, London. Additionally, he studied with Larissa Dedova and Giselle Brodsky, the Miami International Piano Festival chair.  

 

In addition to performing, Stefan was a blog critic for the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, music consultant for American Horror Story: Coven in 2013, and contributing writer for the science and tech blog "Illumination." Blogs, including memorization strategies, can be found here. For over a decade, he kept a private studio, and now resides in the St. Augustine/Jacksonville area.