A native of Bozeman, Montana, pianist April Sun finds inspiration in the wild, and her creativity is naturally boundless.
She is a founding member of the Boston-based Meadowlark Trio–semifinalists in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (2017), artist-fellows for Music for Food (2019). A vibrant collaborator, April has performed with members of the Chiara Quartet, Escher Quartet, Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She also plays with the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra and the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra. Her festival appearances include: Toronto Summer Music, Caroga Lake Music Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, Garth Newel Music Festival, Orford Center for the Arts, Eastern Music Festival, and Brevard Music Center.
Passionate about music education and community service, April has played and taught in schools, nursing homes, and community centers throughout the nation. She currently teaches piano and chamber music at the Brookline Music School and the Rivers Conservatory. In the 2019-2020 season, April will serve as the marketing and communications manager of Music for Food–an organization that uses music to combat food-insecurity. For two years, she was also an Artist-in-Residence at Judson Park, part of an intergenerational living initiative.
April completed her DMA in collaborative piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she also received both a MM in piano performance and a certificate in pedagogy. Her principal teachers have been Daniel Shapiro and Anita Pontremoli. Additionally, April studied chamber music with Peter Salaff, Sharon Robinson, Carolyn Warner, Keith Fitch, and the Cavani Quartet. Most recently, she received the 2018 Bennett Levine Chamber Music Award.
April’s endeavors into historical performance practice and musicology have profoundly impacted her artistic voice. She worked closely Francesca Brittan, who guided study of fortepiano, and Susan McClary, who oversaw and helped shape her historical inquiries. April’s doctoral thesis offers a multi-disciplinary reading of George Crumb’s new piano cycle Metamorphoses (2017). As a critic, she has contributed to ClevelandClassical.com.
April completed her BA in music with minors in Art History and English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where principal mentors at UNL were Paul Barnes and the Chiara String Quartet. Away from the piano, she enjoys tinkering with recordings, hiking, reading poetry, and savoring food with spirit(s).