Hear students of all ages from a variety of Tucson Music Teachers Association piano studio perform in Holsclaw Hall for a panel of distinguished teachers. Dr. Fanya Lin (Associate Professor of Practice, UA School of Music), and Ms. Tannis Gibson (retired Professor of Music, UA School of Music) will work with student performers in a series of short master class sessions.
$Free
PROGRAM: TMTA Performance Festival – Advanced Group
PROGRAM: TMTA Performance Festival – Beginner & Intermediate Groups
About the Adjudicators
Tannis Gibson’s performances have been described as “thoroughly captivating” (The Washington Post), “luminous” (The Boston Globe) and Fanfare Magazine has praised her “stunning performance and powerhouse pianism.” As soloist and chamber musician, Gibson has been heard in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Venues include Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie), Kennedy Center, Shanghai Concert Hall, The Phillip’s Collection, Corcoran Gallery, National Gallery of Art Series, Merkin Concert Hall and the Gardner Museum in Boston. Her festival performances include among others, the Bath Festival in England, the ppIANISSIMO festival in Bulgaria, Chile’s Jornados Musicales de Invierno and New York’s Bang-on-a-Can and Weekend of Chamber Music Festivals. Gibson has collaborated with many fine artists, as well as ensembles such as the Shanghai, Muir, American, Lark, Audubon and Calder String Quartets.
Ms. Gibson has recorded for CRI, ASV (London), JRI, Classics, Equilibrium and Summit Records. Her CD with cellist, Nancy Green, Song of the Birds was chosen as “CD of the Fortnight” by Classical Music magazine in London. The Monticello Trio’s CD of Nicholas Maw’s Piano Trio, with Gibson as pianist was a finalist for a Gramophone Award and selected as “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone Magazine. With the Monticello Trio she has been featured in live performance on WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, NPR’s Performance Today and NBC’s Today Show.
A devoted teacher, Tannis Gibson is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Arizona. Her students have been top prizewinners at the Cincinnati World Piano Competition, Louisiana International Piano Competition, International Bosendorfer Yamaha Competition, American Protégé Competition, and the International Chamber Music Competition (Boston) in addition to other local, regional and national competitions. Several former students now hold faculty positions at institutions worldwide. In addition to a distinguished teaching career, she has enjoyed appointments to administrative positions including Dean of the College of Fine Arts and UA Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Gibson has also taught as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Virginia, as Distinguished Visiting Artist at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles and as guest faculty at summer festivals including the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival at the University of South Florida and Bard College MFA Summer Program in New York.
Tannis Gibson holds a B.M. from the University of Regina (Canada) and a M.M. from the Juilliard School where she was a scholarship student of Sascha Gorodnitzki and Herbert Stessin. She completed Advanced Studies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.
Described as a “striking interpreter” who gives a “committed and heartfelt performance” by Musical America and The New York Times, pianist Fanya Lin has entranced audiences worldwide with her charismatic and fiery performances. Lin’s “mesmerizing performance” of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in UK was depicted as “a tornado had touched down through her body and lifted her, feathers fluttering, from the piano stool as she weighed into the keys.” Her orchestral appearances include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, The Jackson Symphony, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, New Art Symphony, among others.
An avid soloist, Fanya promotes classical music to the public by creating innovative concert programs and engages her audience by presenting interactive performances. She has been featured in numerous prestigious concert series, including the Schubert Club Musicians on the Rise, the Stecher and Horowitz Young Artist Series, and The Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania. Her albums and EPs have been released by world-class labels such as IsoMike, Summit Records, and Soundset Recordings. Fanya’s concerto album Rhapsodic with Maestro Theodore Kuchar and the Lublin Philharmonic is released by Navona Records in 2023.
As a philanthropist, Fanya has collaborated with various non-profit organizations as well as psychological and social service associations through fundraising galas and salon concerts to create access for education and promote mental health awareness. Inspired by her mentors Dr. Yu-Jane Yang, Professor Hung-Kuan Chen, and Professor Lydia Artymiw for their dedication in education, Dr. Fanya Lin is currently serving as the Associate Professor of Practice in Piano at the University of Arizona, where she teaches applied piano lessons, chamber music, piano literature, and Yoga for Musicians course.