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Made up of a wide-ranging piano department and harpsichord, organ, and collaborative piano programs, our keyboard department transforms students into accomplished performers.
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With less than 50 students, the SFCM Piano Department prides itself on individualized attention for each student-pianist and extraordinary instruments including New York and Hamburg Steinway Ds in every concert hall.
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Our period instrument collection includes six harpsichords including instruments built by Bay Area master builders John Phillips and Kevin Fryer, a Walter copy fortepiano, a large clavichord, and practice pedal organ.
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Undergraduate and graduate piano programs include a weekly departmental performance class, an annual concerto competition and orchestra performance, department recitals, classes on historical performance practices, chamber music, and professional development.
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Guest-pianist residencies and masterclasses at SFCM have included luminaries like Yuja Wang, Leon Fleisher, Sergei Babayan, Stephen Hough, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, Emanuel Ax, Jean-YvesThibaudet, and Daniil Trifonov.