Meet the Hosts of the Listening Series: Prelude to Piano

Marshall Griffith is a jazz and classical pianist, composer and music educator. He has also been a soloist with numerous orchestras, chamber groups and jazz ensembles. He is on the Music Theory faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is a Resident Artist for the Music and Arts Program at The Cleveland Clinic and an artist for Piano Cleveland’s community outreach program. His compositions include chamber, opera and symphonic works and music for jazz ensembles. His music is published by Theodore Presser, Pleasing Dog Music and Belle Press. In 2014, he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award from CIM in the Composer-Virtuoso category. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from Indiana University.

Caroline Oltmanns is an International Steinway Artist, Steinway Spirio Recording Artist, Fulbright Scholar, and recipient of the Stipendium der deutschen Wirtschaft. She is Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University and holds degrees from the Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her playing has been broadcast globally on radio and television stations, and she was featured on the documentary series Living the Classical Life. She earned her Diploma at the Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg and her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

A native of Israel, President of Piano Cleveland Yaron Kohlberg has played in major halls in forty countries spanning five continents and has more than ten international prizes, including the Second Prize at the 2007 CIPC. In recent years Mr. Kohlberg, who speaks six languages, has teamed up with his friend Bishara Haroni to form the highly successful Duo Amal piano duo. He also cooperates regularly with top musicians and ensembles around the globe. He holds a graduate degree (with distinction) from the Buchmann-Mehta school of music of Tel Aviv University. In concert, he often combines classical music with new arrangements of popular and world music.