Piano Festival

Jared Pierce

Dr. Jared A. Pierce has been featured on concerts throughout the world, including with orchestras and choirs in Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Vietnam, and throughout the United States. Recent collaborations include internationally renowned artists Nathan Pacheco, Øystein Baadsvik, Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, The Nashville Tribute Band, Lexi Walker, and many more. He is currently the accompanist for the Utah Chamber Artists and a member of the American Piano Quartet.

Pierce has recorded a number albums with various international artists. In 2023, he released a joint album with cellist Christine Renee Kralik entitled Romantic Cello on the Ovation Artists Label. As a Deseret Book artist, Dr. Pierce has released two solo albums including Glorious: Piano Hymns and Christmas Piano with Shadow Mountain Records. In 2019, he released Be Still My Soul with trumpeter Jason Bergman on MSR Classics. MusicWeb International described his playing as “very fine” and “top class.” His playing has been featured on numerous radio and television programs including Highway 89 with Steven Kapp Perry and BYUtv’s Grace Notes hosted by Elaine Bradley. His compositions are available on his website jaredpiercemusic.com

Some of his solo piano accomplishments include first place in the 2014 Arne Oldberg Competition, first place in the 2013 SummerArts Solo Piano Competition, the 2010 Earl and Marilyn Kruschke prize for piano, first place in the 2008 CSU Stanislaus Concerto Competition, and first place in the 2006 Merced Symphony Concerto Competition. As a collaborative pianist, Pierce has been a recipient of numerous prizes including the “Grand Prix de la Ville de Tours” of the Florilège Vocal de Tours 2014 & 2015 International Choir Competitions.

Pierce is chair of keyboard studies and a member of the piano performance faculty at Brigham Young University. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Utah, a Master of Music in piano performance from BYU, and a Bachelor of Music from California State University, Stanislaus. His teachers include Susan Duehlmeier, Barlow Bradford, Heather Conner, Irene Peery-Fox, Stephen Thomas, David Dow, and Linda Popkes. He also spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival & School studying with renowned pedagogues Ann Schein, Anton Nel and Gabriel Chodos.

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Vedrana Subotic

Croatian-American pianist Vedrana Subotic leads a vibrant and multi-faceted career as an internationally acclaimed concert artist, pedagogue, and chamber musician. Subotic's solo performances have been lauded by critics and audiences for “fierce playing and impressive chops” (Salt Lake Tribune) and “nuanced and expressive playing, beautifully phrased lines, and a wonderfully light touch.” (Deseret News). Artists of Utah described her recent performance of Schubert Piano Trio No.2 as “one of the most intuitively verdant and emotionally draining performance of any of Franz Schubert’s compositions...ever heard, live or on a recording...truly astonishing.”

Subotic, a Steinway Artist, studied music in Europe and the US, and holds five degrees including a Doctor of Music and Artist Diploma from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She maintains a busy concert and masterclass schedule with engagements in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Subotic has performed more than 500 works in the solo, chamber, and concerto genres, including the 32 piano sonatas, and complete chamber works with piano by Beethoven. Her recently live-streamed performance of Liszt’s “Dante” Sonata has over 500K views.

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Subotic serves as President of the World Piano Teachers Association for the US, as the Music Director of INTERMEZZO Concert Series, and as the state President for the Utah Chapter of the ALS (American Liszt Society).

Subotic is a Professor-Lecturer at the University of Utah, where she teaches piano students in the Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral programs and oversees degree recitals, Masters Thesis, and Doctoral Dissertations. Subotic also teaches two Career Development courses at the University of Utah for which she received a faculty award in 2019.

As a member of the piano faculty, she has created the Utah Liszt Festival and Competition, Guest Artist Piano Masterclasses Series in collaboration with the Utah Symphony and the Gina Bachauer Foundation, the Teacher Development Seminars, a collaboration with the Preparatory Piano program, and Live@Libby, the live-streamed faculty concert series. From 2008-2019, Subotic produced the piano area’s annual fundraising concert (Monsterconcert), an on-campus event featuring collaborative performances of nearly 200 pianists from the community and the University programs.

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Hilary Demske

Steinway Artist Hilary Demske regularly appears across the globe as a solo and collaborative artist. An active composer and pianist, her 2021 album of original music “Journey for One: A Winterreise Fantasy for Solo Piano” was praised by Gramophone Magazine as a “barnstorming performance, blending classical pianism, contemporary music and jazz.”

Additional recordings include “Henry Martin: Selected Piano Music,” “Cosmology” by Neil Thornock, Benjamin Sabey’s solo piece “Ecstatic Aspen” and a chamber disc featuring the works of Lou Harrison, all released on Albany Records.

Publications include chapters on Scarlatti and Copland in the academic book The Pianist’s Craft, Volumes 1 and 2 (Scarecrow Press). She has also presented papers at a wide range of international conferences.

Demske has judged numerous national and international competitions, including the 2012 Gina Bachauer Junior and Young Artists International Piano Competition preliminary auditions, the Florida State University piano solo competition, and the Utah Symphony Salute to Youth preliminary auditions.

Demske holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Peabody Conservatory, a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Michigan, and an Artist Diploma (Meisterklasse diploma) from the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany. Her principal teachers include Julian Martin, Logan Skelton, Margarita Höhenrieder and Samuel Wong.

Recipient of Steinway & Sons “Top Teacher Award” in 2021, Demske is a full professor and Director of Piano Studies at Utah Valley University.

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