Susan Merdinger, Neighbor

Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger has been internationally acclaimed in prestigious newspapers and journals for her stunning performances. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described her recital as a “daring, enormously joyous presentation which captured and transfixed the audience”. Fanfare Magazine ( March/April 2014) declared that her “Carnival” CD was “exquisitely detailed and full of life”, likening her playing to that of legendary pianists Leonard Bernstein, Annie Fischer and Nadia Reisenberg. Among her many honors, Merdinger is a First Prize Winner of the 2012 Bradshaw and Buono Competition, and the 2013 International Music Competition of France, and is a Winner of the Dewar’s Young Artists Award in Music, the Artists International Young Musicians Competition, the Artists International Alumni Winners Prize, the IBLA Grand Prize Competition “Special Liszt Award”, and the Masterplayers International Music Competition. She is also a laureate of the prestigious Harveys Leeds International, Montreal International Concours de Musique, William Kappell International and Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competitions. In 2014, Ms. Merdinger was awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in the Global Music Awards for her CD’s French Fantasy, Carnival and Soirée. With a vast repertoire spanning three centuries, Merdinger has toured Europe and the USA under the auspices of the International Concert Administration Foundation. Merdinger performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist, duo pianist, and as a chamber musician with principal members of the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and many other renowned musicians, including her own family “The Five Greenes”, and Pianissimo!-Chicago’s Premiere Piano Ensemble. She is a Visiting Artist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series with the Tononi Ensemble at The Art Institute and at Symphony Center. Merdinger made a triumphant Chicago Orchestral Debut at Harris Theater with The Chicago Philharmonic under the direction of Sony Classical Artist Mattia Rondelli. Performing her sold-out solo recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall at age twenty-five, Merdinger has continued to grace the stages of some of the world’s best concert halls. 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). A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Merdinger has championed works by composers such as Morton Gould, Augusta Read Thomas, Ilya Levinson, Margarita Zelenaia and Elbio Barilari. Merdinger completed her formal education at Yale University, the Yale School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Westchester Conservatory of Music, the Ecole Normale de Musique in Fontainebleau, France, and the Chautauqua and Norfolk Music Festivals, and is a Faculty member of the Summit Music Festival in New York. www.susanmerdinger.com