Oni Buchanan

author biography: Concert pianist ONI BUCHANAN performs an incredible range of piano literature, with her focus and expertise running from the keyboard works of Couperin through Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel, Prokofiev, Bartók, and—bringing her into the most contemporary musical moment—to the exceptional works of women composers writing today. Her concert programming is often interdisciplinary in nature, directly engaging the intimate connections between the arts, and frequently including adventurous contemporary works alongside established repertoire, bringing works from disparate centuries into fascinating and enlightening conversation. Ms. Buchanan has performed solo recitals in major cities throughout the U.S. and abroad, at such venues as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) in Berkeley, the Bechstein Piano Centre in NYC, the Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Municipal (IBAM) in Rio de Janeiro, the Casa Thomas Jefferson in Brasília, the Associação Cultural Cachuera! in São Paulo, and the William H. Buset Centre for Music and Visual Arts in Thunder Bay.

Oni 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 selected by Mark Doty as a winner of the National Poetry Series, and also received the 2009 Massachusetts Book Award. Her first book, What Animal, was chosen by Fanny Howe as winner of the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series competition. Ms. Buchanan currently maintains a private piano studio in Boston. Her discography includes three solo piano CDs on the independent Velvet Ear Records label.