Kent McWilliams - Senior Piano

Pianist Kent McWilliams has enjoyed a successful performing career since his debut in Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto with conductor Kazuhiro Koizumi and the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. After a recent appearance with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the music critic exclaimed, “McWilliams’ performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 was nothing less than a triumph”. He has played in over a dozen countries, and has been an award winner at the competitions of Porto (Portugal), the Regina Symphony, the Canadian Music competitions and the Canadian National Competitive Festival of Music. As part of the Meridian Trio, Kent recently recorded a CD entitled “Triptyque” and as a solo pianist he was part of the 14 disc recording project of “The Celebration Series: A Piano Odyssey” released by Frederick Harris. He has also played frequently for radio, having performed live recitals and concertos on the CBC in Canada and the ABC in Australia.

Kent holds a Doctorate of Music in Performance degree, which he completed under Marc Durand at the University of Montreal. He studied in Poland with Andrzej Jasinski while researching the Polish folk elements in Chopin’s Mazurkas and Polonaises. Kent also earned an Artist Diploma under Oleg Maisenberg at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule in Germany and he completed Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance under Boris Lysenko at the University of Toronto. Kent’s first teacher was Maude McGuire in his hometown of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Kent joined the faculty of St. Olaf College in 2001 after having previously taught at the Glenn Gould School and at Wilfrid Laurier University. Kent is a very experienced judge and clinician, having presented performance and pedagogy workshops to teachers across North America. In 2007, he was invited to judge the national finals of the US Music Teachers’ National Association competition and he has adjudicated across Canada, including senior piano at the music festivals of Toronto, Calgary, Windsor, Regina and Saskatoon. He currently resides in Northfield, Minnesota with his wife, Renata and their two children, Patrick and Anna.