A piano student performing in von Kuster Hall

Piano Division

Piano Division

A piano student performing in von Kuster Hall

Piano Division

The Don Wright Faculty of Music offers piano students diverse course options, including solo & duo classes, piano pedagogy, piano literature, and collaborative musicianship. There are many performance opportunities for students including solo and studio recitals, weekly faculty-led masterclasses, and ensembles, plus competitions and awards including the Fred Pattison Piano Competition, Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition, and the Young-Ja Park Chamber Music Competition.

Our yearly Parsons and Poole Concert and Masterclass series has featured world-class pianists including Marc-André Hamelin, Menahem Pressler, Angela Hewitt, Jon Kimura Parker and Yekwon Sunwoo. Western Music also offers learning opportunities, residencies and masterclasses with international artists of renown.

The Music Building and Talbot College house over 100 practice rooms, studios, and large and small rehearsal spaces, plus three modern performance venues with concert pianos and state-of-the-art recording capabilities. We have approximately 150 pianos of excellent quality and maintenance, including 75 grand pianos and 75 upright pianos, plus 25 digital keyboards. Our practice rooms hold 35 uprights and 15 grands, available for student use.

In the Spotlight

February 2026

January 2026

April 2025

September 2024

May 2024

Alumni of Note

Brian Cho, BMusA’16, Artist Diploma’18, MMus’21 (Literature and Performance - Collaborative Piano)

Featured in Opera Canada’s “New on the scene” article, Winter 2022-23 edition

Dan Luong, BMus’15, MMus’19

Among several recent accomplishments, Dan was the single keyboardist selected for the National Youth Orchestra of Canada 2021 summer tour.

Francesco Milioto, BMus’96 (Music Performance – Piano)

Appointed as Opera San Antonio's first Music Director. He is also on the music staff with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra.

John Yun, MMus’12

Associate music director for the Alicia Keys musical Hells Kitchen, which opened on Broadway in April 2024. Performed at the 2021 Tony Awards and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, was associate music conductor on a worldwide tour of the musical West Side Story, and associate conductor of Tina: the Tina Turner Musical on Broadway. Read Western News article (April 18, 2024)

Contact

Piano Division Coordinator

Stéphan Sylvestre
Associate Professor
TC 405
(519) 661-2111 x85376
ssylves4@uwo.ca