BIOGRAPHY
Allison Hillier
Founder, Artistic Director
In demand as teacher, performer, and collaborative pianist, I have been serving the Northeast Ohio piano community since 2015. Originally from Canada, I relocated to Cleveland and completed a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. There, I worked with some of the current leading piano pedagogues, Dr. Andrea McAlister and Dr. Jody Kerchner, receiving a comprehensive education in elementary and intermediate pedagogy. At graduation I received the David Statler Walker Award in Music Education for my dedication and contributions to the field. What is now a strong passion, once began as a small spark back in my home community of Calgary, AB over 10 years ago. Persuaded by my own piano teacher, I began teaching the children I babysat to play the piano. Watching those students grow and change through music lit the spark that turned into a true appreciation and devotion to teaching.
Continuing my passion for education, I pursued a concentration in Piano Pedagogy under the mentorship of Sean Schulze while receiving a master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. During this time, I also held an internship at the Frances Clark Center for Piano Pedagogy, an internationally renowned organization. There, I assisted in the curation and editing of generations of great pedagogical tools and information for Piano Magazine, a leading resource for pianists and teachers.
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Currently, as a piano TEACHER at Studio Espressivo and faculty member at the Aurora School of Music, I have over 50 students ranging from young beginner to advanced adult. Also teaching at the collegiate level, I have been a visiting artist at Youngstown State University, where I presented a lecture performance to the Piano Department. I have also been a guest lecturer at the Cleveland Institute of Music. All my students find success at the piano, whether that's enjoying playing for friends and family, or getting into top music programs at colleges like Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, Kent State and YSU.
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Having studied with renowned artists like Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Angela Cheng and Colleen Athparia, I have found success as a PERFORMER in Canada, the USA and Europe. I made my orchestral debut at the age of 11 and received the Associate Diploma in Performance from the Royal Conservatory at the age of 15. I have given solo recitals in Novi Sad, Serbia, Grand Prairie, Edmonton, and Calgary, AB, Canada as well as across Ohio, Massachusetts, and Florida. In 2015 I was named Alberta’s Young Artist in the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers competition. Most recently I was awarded an honourable mention from the Graves Piano Competition in Columbus, Ohio. I regularly perform as a soloist at the Aurora School of Music as well as important venues in Cleveland. For the dedication of the Bartok and Kodaly monument at the Hungarian Cultural Gardens, I was invited to give a solo performance. Recent performances include a solo recital at the Butler Museum of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.
As a COLLABORATIVE PIANIST, I was a member of the Two Third Ninth Trio, which took top honours at the national Canadian Music Competition in 2015. Since then, I have worked with many instrumentalists and vocalists in highly regarded programs such as the Pinchas Zuckerman Young Artist Program, and the Bowdoin Music Festival. Recently, I was the collaborative pianist for Youngstown’s professional opera company, Opera Western Reserve, joining them on tour. In Cleveland, I regularly accompany vocalists and instrumentalists in competitions hosted by NATS, OMEA, the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, and the Suburban Symphony Orchestra. Since the 23/24 season, I have been the principal keyboardist of the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. My other orchestral experience includes the keyboardist position at the Calgary Civic Symphony during the 14/15 season.
In 2019, I opened Studio Espressivo at the Murray Hill Galleries in the heart of Little Italy, becoming the neighbourhood’s only dedicated music venue for concerts, recording sessions, rehearsals, and piano lessons. Last year, I became the ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of Sunday Studio Series and launched a successful first season of Italian-inspired concerts. Invested in making music accessible to the community, Studio Espressivo also regularly hosts events in collaboration with the non-profit Antigone Music Collective, local schools, and Little Italy ArtWalks.