Elizabeth Buccheri

Elizabeth Buccheri, a native of South Carolina, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Music from Winthrop University, and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, and Performers’ Certificate in Piano, all from the Eastman School of Music. While attending Eastman, she served as pianist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and also performed and toured with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ms. Buccheri’s varied career as coach and accompanist has included twenty-eight seasons as as accompanist for the Chicago Symphony Chorus under the direction of the legendary Margaret Hillis; pianist/coach for the opera companies of the Brevard (N.C.) Music Festival and Rochester’s Opera Under the Stars; accompanist/coach for conductors Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Sir Andrew Davis, and Christoph Eschenbach; and, since 1987, assistant conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago. An experienced recitalist, she has appeared in concert with singers Nicole Cabell, Elizabeth Futral, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Pamela Hinchman, Susanne Mentzer, Patrice Michaels, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, and William Warfield; with the Shanghai and Vermeer String Quartets; and with violinists Midori and Gil Shaham. These concerts have taken her to all parts of the United States and many countries in Europe. Buccheri has recorded extensively on the Sony, CRI, Boston, Albany, and Cedille labels and was responsible for musical preparation on London Records’ issues of Sch??nberg’s Moses und Aron, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von N?ºrenberg, and Verdi’s Otello, all with Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chorus, and soloists. For this work, Elizabeth Buccheri became the first American musician to receive the Solti Foundation Award. During the 2004 and 2005 concert seasons, she assisted Maestro Pierre Boulez, the Cleveland Orchestra, Chorus, and soloists with preparations for performances at Severance Hall, Cleveland and Carnegie Hall, New York.

Ms. Buccheri is the founder and former music director of Chamber Music at North Park, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by North Park University in May 2004. She joined the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival in June 2005 where she prepares performances of vocal works. A dedicated teacher, Buccheri has given master classes at the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, Lawrence Conservatory, and the music academies of Lithuania and Latvia. In fall 2000, Buccheri joined the faculty of Northwestern University’s School of Music where she supervises the collaborative piano program.