Sixty-fourth Annual Conference
October 31 – November 2, 2024
Furman University, Greenville, SC
South Carolina MTNA Performance Competitions Will Be Live.
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, September 11, 2023, 3:00 pm. Eastern Time.
Click here for the conference schedule.
Guest Artist
Dmitri Vorobiev
Dmitri Vorobiev first came to international attention after winning the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy in 1994, followed by performances at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto and numerous recitals throughout Italy. Mr. Vorobiev has been a major prize-winner in the Busoni, Cincinnati World, Ibla Grand Prize, A.M.A. Calabria, Iowa and Alabama international piano competitions. In 2000, he placed first and also took three special prizes at the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, and in 2003, Dmitri won the first prize in the New Orleans International Piano Competition. He appeared as a soloist with Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, Pretoria Chamber Orchestra, Durban Symphony, Terni Philharmonic, Manhattan School of Music Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony and Western Piedmont Symphony. His solo recitals took him throughout the United States, Israel, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Ireland and South Africa.
Dmitri Vorobiev maintains a dynamic concert schedule and one of his current projects is performing complete solo piano works by Ludwig van Beethoven. As a frequent recording artist with the Blue Griffin label, Mr. Vorobiev’s most recent production in progress is a double CD set with lesser known works by Beethoven. An acclaimed soloist, Dmitri is also an active chamber music player. Some of the highlights include recordings of complete sonatas for violin and piano and complete piano trios by Bohuslav Martinu with Arbor Piano Trio for Naxos label. Mr. Vorobiev’s collaborations include frequent performances with violinist Ivan Zenaty as well as performances with Zemlinsky String Quartet, violinist Rodney Friend and appearances in duo- piano recitals with his wife, Polina Khatsko.
A native of Moscow, Russia, Dmitri began his piano studies when he was 5. He attended the School of Music and the Music College of the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Nina Levitzkaya and Victor Bunin. In 1992, he was invited by Eric Larsen to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he received his bachelor’s degree. Mr. Vorobiev completed his master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music as a full scholarship student of Marc Silverman and winner of the Harold Bauer award. He earned his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, working with Arthur Greene.
Currently, Dmitri Vorobiev is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he is also an Artistic Director of the UNCSA Chamber Music Festival in Watson Hall. Dmitri is in constant demand as an adjudicator and previously was on piano faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic and the Vivace International Music Festival.
Guest Clinician
Christopher Fisher
Dr. Christopher Fisher is Professor of Piano at Ohio University in Athens where he co-chairs the Keyboard Division and directs the piano performance and pedagogy programs. He is the Artistic Director of the OU Piano Pedagogy Seminar and is a Faculty Fellow for the 1804 Scholars Program. Dr. Fisher served as Director of the OU School of Music from 2020-2022 and Assistant Director from 2019-2020. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press OUP, 2010), the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. Dr. Fisher is the co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016) and co-author of Functional Skills for Pianists (OUP, 2022). He is also co-editing the Oxford Handbook for Piano Pedagogy (OUP) with Dr. Sally Cathcart. He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative and successful piano method, Piano Safari. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.
In demand as a workshop clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented numerous lectures nationally and internationally, including the MTNA National Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, as well as several pedagogy conferences in Spain, Brazil, Australia and the United Kingdom. He has served as a guest lecturer at leading universities and conservatories including recent engagements at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Institute, University of Oxford (UK), and Trinity Laban Conservatoire (UK). He frequently serves as an adjudicator and master class clinician throughout the United States and abroad, including the MTNA Stecher & Horowitz Two Piano Competition and the United States Virtuoso Artists International Piano Competition.
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet/duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
Dr. Fisher is an active member of MTNA and has served as VP of Conferences, VP of Membership and currently; he presently serves as Collegiate Chapter Chair for the Ohio MTA. He is faculty advisor for the OU MTNA Collegiate Chapter (2021, 2019, and 2015 MTNA Collegiate Chapter Award). Dr. Fisher also maintains a studio of pre-college students who have been successful at state and regional piano competitions and festivals.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University (MM of Ped) and Northwest Missouri State University (BA). He was awarded a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship.
Christopher Fisher is a Yamaha Artist.
