Artist Faculty Performance Spotlight
Sean Schulze, piano
Sean Schulze is on the keyboard faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music where he coordinates and teaches the undergraduate and graduate Piano Pedagogy and Piano Literature offerings in addition to teaching applied piano to students in CIM’s Joint Music Program and Academy. Enjoying a multifaceted career as both a pianist and pedagogue, Schulze has garnered a national reputation as a sought-after teacher of pre-college pianists. His students regularly enjoying success in regional and national competitions and have appeared as concerto soloists with orchestra on more than 25 occasions. In regular demand as a clinician, adjudicator and masterclass presenter, Schulze appears frequently as a guest of local music teacher’s associations, teaching and lecturing on piano related topics. In 2015 Schulze was invited to sit on the jury of the Cleveland International Piano Competition's Young Artist Competition and his scholarship has been featured on several occasions in publications such as The Piano Magazine as well as the Beethoven Journal. As a pianist, he has appeared as concerto soloist, solo recitalist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., South Africa, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil and has collaborated with members of the Calder Quartet, with pianist Shuai Wang and with violinist Stephen Sims. In addition to his duties at CIM, Schulze also served as artist faculty at the Young Artist World Piano Festival from 2013-2019 and held an appointment as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano Literature at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 2015-2023. In 2022 Schulze was appointed to serve as Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Partnerships at CIM, a position he holds in conjunction with his instructional duties.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Schulze received his early training under Moira Birks and Isabella Stengel, two of that country’s most esteemed pedagogues. In 1995 he received a full merit scholarship to pursue a DMA at the University of Arizona where he studied with Nicholas Zumbro (a student of the famed Rosina Lhévinne). He undertook further studies with Brazilian pianist Caio Pagano and performed in masterclasses for many leading pianists and pedagogues including Yoheved Kaplinsky, Bela Siki, Nelita True, John Owings, Martin Canin, Tamás Ungár, and Joseph Banowetz.
