LONG AND SHORT BIOGRAPHIES

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ONI BUCHANAN is a young American pianist who focuses her virtuosity and inventiveness on designing and bringing to life themed concerts full of originality, vitality, and exceptional works of music from both the past and present. She has performed solo recitals throughout the U.S. and abroad, at such venues as the Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Municipal (IBAM) and the Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo in Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, the Casa Thomas Jefferson in Brasília, the Associação Cultural Cachuera! in São Paulo, the University of Guelph as well as Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario, CANADA, the Bechstein Piano Centre in NYC, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the Lane Series in Burlington, the Silberman Series at Allegheny College, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Harvard University Hall Concert Series, among many others. In addition, Ms. Buchanan has given ensemble performances in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, at Harvard University, and at the New School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and has been a guest concerto soloist with the Waynesboro Community Orchestra (Waynesboro, VA), conducted by Eric Stassen.

Oni Buchanan’s concert programming is often interdisciplinary in nature, directly engaging the intimate connections between music and the visual arts, music and poetry, music and dance. She also programs adventurous contemporary works alongside established repertoire, bringing works from disparate centuries into fascinating conversation. Her most current performance project is her ongoing concert series, “In the Moment: Women Composers of the 21st Century,” the first program of which she will premiere this spring at such venues as the National Gallery of Art and UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).

Ms. Buchanan received her Master’s degree in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, her Bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Virginia, and conducted three years of her music studies at the University of Iowa School of Music while pursuing an M.F.A. in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her teachers have included Russell Sherman, Stephen Drury, Daniel Epstein, Patricia Zander, Uriel Tsachor, and Mimi Tung. In addition, she studied at the Aspen Music Festival in the studios of Joseph Kalichstein and Gabriel Chodos, and has been an active participant and performer in the New England Conservatory Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP).

In addition to her music degrees, Oni Buchanan holds a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia and an M.F.A. in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Ms. Buchanan's second poetry book, Spring, was selected by Mark Doty as a winner of the 2007 National Poetry Series, and was published by the University of Illinois Press in September 2008. Her first book of poems, What Animal, won the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series competition (chosen by Fanny Howe), and was published in October 2003. Ms. Buchanan's poems are featured in several anthologies including The Best American Poetry 2004 and Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century, and have been published in numerous journals across the country, including Conduit, New Orleans Review, Copper Nickel, Columbia Poetry Review, Seneca Review, and Gulf Coast. A Flash version of Oni Buchanan’s kinetic poem “The Mandrake Vehicles” is on permanent display at the Conduit website, and she is currently at work on a large-scale interactive poem videogame, on which she is collaborating with composer and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa.

Ms. Buchanan currently maintains a private piano studio in Boston. Her discography includes three solo piano CDs on the independent Velvet Ear Records label.


SHORTER BIOGRAPHY:

ONI BUCHANAN is a young American pianist whose concert programming is often interdisciplinary in nature, directly engaging the intimate connections between the arts, and frequently including adventurous contemporary works alongside established repertoire. She has performed solo recitals throughout the U.S. and abroad, at such venues as the Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Municipal (IBAM) in Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, the University of Guelph in Ontario, CANADA, the Bechstein Piano Centre in NYC, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Harvard University Hall Concert Series, among many others.

Ms. Buchanan received her Master’s degree in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, her Bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Virginia, and conducted three years of her music studies at the University of Iowa School of Music while pursuing an M.F.A. in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her teachers have included Russell Sherman, Stephen Drury, Daniel Epstein, Patricia Zander, Uriel Tsachor, and Mimi Tung.

Ms. Buchanan is also an award-winning poet. Her second book of poetry, Spring, was published by the University of Illinois Press in September 2008, selected by Mark Doty as a winner of the 2007 National Poetry Series. Her first poetry book, What Animal, was published in 2003 by the University of Georgia Press. Ms. Buchanan currently maintains a private piano studio in Boston. Her discography includes three solo piano CDs on the independent Velvet Ear Records label.