Bio

Photo by Nina Francine Photography

3 bios are included here in this order: more complete, medium, and short. Current as of March 2024.

Please use current edition(s) of bio and destroy any previous versions.

Pianist Ann DuHamel’s performances have been praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City). She has performed in 20 countries and 37 of the United States, including concerts at Sala Verdi in Milan, Italy; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York; and Trinity College in Oxford, England. Recent appearances include venues in Medellín, Colombia, and Luzern, Switzerland, as well as the Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto in her fourth return appearance with the Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra.

In May of 2023, Ann was awarded the prestigious 2023-24 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Musicians. These highly competitive awards “recognize and support mid-career musicians living and working in Minnesota who demonstrate a sustained level of accomplishment, commitment, artistic excellence, a distinctive musical voice, and a significant performing career over a period of time.”

Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), Ann actively champions contemporary composers, recently commissioning works by Flannery Cunningham, Jocelyn Hagen, and Edie Hill, among others. Piano Magazine applauded “the depth of programming and playing” in Rückblick, admiring Ann’s “range of sound and full melodic tone,” as well as her “clear voicing and vibrant sense of color.” In Piano Bulletin, Dutch reviewer Olga de Kort wrote that Rückblick is “an extraordinary, fascinating CD … The album is musically very strong … Kudos to the pianist who [assembled] a collection so passionate, technically excellent and inspiring …” Dr. Brahms’s Book of Rags, which appears on the album, was a finalist in The American Prize in Piano Performance, 2021, and received a Special Judges’ Citation: “Championing the Music of Marc Chan.” Rückblick was also a finalist for Best Album in the 2022 Petrichor International Music Competition.

Ann can be heard on the 2022 release Tyler Kline: Orchard (Neuma Records), performing six works of Kline, five of which she commissioned. Fanfare Magazine praised her performance as “alive … [played with] aching expression.” Tracks from Rückblick and Orchard have been featured on WFMT (Chicago), WKCR (Columbia University, New York), WMBR (Cambridge, MA), WRUW (Cleveland), WSMR (Tampa), WYSO (Ohio), XRAY-FM (Portland, Oregon), and Minnesota Public Radio. 

In demand as a collaborative pianist, Ann has performed chamber music with members of both the Grammy-Award winning Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Martha Councell-Vargas, flute; Preston Duncan, saxophone; Tracey Engelman, soprano; Maria Jette, soprano; and Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano. Her performance at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall with ensemble: Périphérie was hailed by the New York Concert Review as “outstanding,” praising the group of “superb musicians [who] played with power and assurance.”

Ann’s latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” responds to the climate crisis with 60+ new works, from composers across the globe, for piano and piano/electronics. During the Fall of 2022, she was awarded artist residencies at Tofte Lake Center (MN), Everwood Farmstead Foundation (WI), and Porto Pianofest for this project, which has also received extensive support from the University of Minnesota (Institute for Advanced Study Residential Fellow, Fall 2021; Imagine Fund Special Events Grant; and Grant-In-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship). She has been interviewed about the project on Modern Notebook Radio (WSMR) and Minnesota Public Radio’s All Things Considered with Tom Crann.

Ann has performed portions of the Prayers for a Feverish Planet more than 65 times, including for the Chamber Music Society of St Cloud (St Cloud, MN), Nakamichi Concert Series (Easton, MA), Outpost Concert Series (Riverside, CA), Old First Concert Series (San Francisco, CA), the Pipino Performing Arts Series (Youngstown, OH), and Wayward Music Series (Seattle, WA). She appeared as a featured PEDx speaker at the 2023 National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago. La Circular: Revista de Cultural Rural y Circular (Spain) wrote, “Ann DuHamel’s concert at the Porto Pianofest demonstrated … the ability of classical music in general, and the piano in particular, to transmit the concerns and thoughts of the contemporary world.”

Prior to earning a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Ksenia Nosikova, Ann was Assistant Artistic Director to Paul Wirth at the Wirth Center (then Central Minnesota Music School) in St Cloud, MN, for 8 years. Ann’s had the great fortune to play in masterclasses and lessons for many pianists, including Vladimir Feltsman, Alexander Korsantia, Fernando Laires, Susan Starr, Nelita True, and more, in addition to collaborative piano coaching with Martin Katz, Arlene Shrut, and John Wustman. 

An active member of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association for almost 25 years, Ann is a recent Past President of the organization. Some of her most important contributions on the MMTA Board of Directors include initiating a Diversity- Equity-Inclusion committee, as well as ushering forth a Land Acknowledgement to honor the Indigenous people and cultures from Minnesota. She’s performed and presented at conferences for Music Teachers National Association, the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers, the European Piano Teachers Association, the College Music Society, the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts; Music, Sound, and Climate Justice Conversations 2022; and the Society for American Music.

Ann’s students have received 1st place in the St Cloud Symphony Orchestra Collegiate Young Artist Competition, 1st place in the MMTA High School Composition Contest, and 2nd place in the MMTA Collegiate Young Artist Contest. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Morris, where she devotes herself to the mission of sharing high quality traditional and contemporary classical music with students and the greater community. 

Please use current edition(s) of bio and destroy any previous versions.

Medium length

Praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City), pianist and McKnight Fellow Ann DuHamel delights in a multi-dimensional and eclectic musical career. Her performances have spanned 20 countries and 37 of the United States, including Carnegie Weill Recital Hall.

Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) and applauded for the “depth of programming and playing” (Piano Magazine) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), she actively champions contemporary composers, commissioning all of the works for this release. She can also be heard on Tyler Kline: Orchard (Neuma Records, 2022); Fanfare Magazine praised her performance as “alive … [played with] aching expression.” Tracks from Rückblick and Orchard have been featured on radio stations across the U.S.

Ann’s project “Prayers for a Feverish Planet” responds to the climate crisis with 60+ new works from composers around the world. In the spirit of eco-artivism, the program asks urgent questions of the listener: how can we live more mindfully as global citizens? How can we use our artistic talents to make a difference? Featured in interviews on Modern Notebook Radio (WSMR) and Minnesota Public Radio’s All Things Considered with Tom Crann, Ann has been awarded artist residencies at Tofte Lake Center (MN), Everwood Farmstead Foundation (WI), and Porto Pianofest in addition to grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Lake Region Arts Council, and the University of Minnesota.

Ann currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Morris, where she devotes herself to the mission of sharing high quality traditional and contemporary classical music with students and the greater community. She is a Past President of Minnesota Music Teachers Association. She earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Ksenia Nosikova.

Please use current edition(s) of bio and destroy any previous versions.

Short length

Ann DuHamel, McKnight Artist Fellow and Past President of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, currently serves as Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Morris. She is a bibliophile, chocoholic, eccentric gardener, Futurama fan, piano nerd, tea drinker, walking enthusiast, and yoga devotee.