Our Experienced Pianists
Having experience as collaborative pianists with renowned solo artists or as an accompaniment for famous symphonies, the collaborative pianists at the Stulberg International String Competition will help each competitor perform to the best of their abilities. Always focused on delivering the best collaborative performance possible for the young artists competing, our pianists provide the best support to every young artist in our competition. To learn more about our collaborative pianists, see a short bio of each below.
Alicja Basinska
Alicja Basinska is a Polish-born collaborative pianist, chamber musician and orchestral keyboardist. Ms. Basinska is a Collaborative Piano Coordinator and staff pianist at the Cleveland Institute of Music as well as a Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University. As an orchestral player, she has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Basinska is also an Assistant Director and a score reader for the Cleveland Orchestra video production team at Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center. Every year, the team produces numerous concerts, streamed live on multiple platforms including Adella and European-based Medicitv.
Ms. Basinska earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Andrea Swan
Andrea Swan is a Chicago-area collaborative pianist, chamber musician, orchestral player, soloist and teacher. She was the principal keyboard player with the Grant Park Music Festival for over 40 years and plays regularly with the Lyric Opera orchestra. She also accompanies instrumentalists in their final auditions for positions in these orchestras and serves as the official collaborator for many competitions around the United States, including 13 years with the Stulberg.
As a founding member of the Evanston Chamber Ensemble, she performed over 200 chamber works. As a champion of new music, she performed with the Contemporary Players at the University of Chicago for many years and later with the Fulcrum New Music Project. She has always enjoyed collaborating with students of all ages in competitions, recitals and master classes.
Ms. Swan holds degrees from Oberlin College and Indiana University. Her mentors include Jack Radunsky, Gygory Sebok, Menahem Pressler, Josef Gingold and Janos Starker.
