Dr. Tomoko Kanamaru
Tomoko Kanamaru first appeared with a professional orchestra at the age of nine in Tokyo. She made her U.S. concerto debut with the Savannah Symphony in December 2000, performing the Grieg Concerto. Since then, she has made solo appearances with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, and the Binghamton Philharmonic. More recently she performed the Liszt First Concerto with the Middletown Symphony (in Ohio), the Tchaikovsky First Concerto with the Symphony of Southeast Texas, and Petrushka with the Annapolis Symphony, in addition to the return appearance with the Symphony of Southeast Texas performing the Liszt First Concerto. During the 2018-19 season, she performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Ambler Symphony as themember of the soloists from the Camerata Philadelphia. Most recently, she was the soloist for the Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia and Symphony in C.
As a chamber musician, she has performed twice for the New York Philharmonic Ensembles Series at Merkin Hall, performed with the Philharmonic Quintet of New York, and made a recital appearance in Tokyo with the members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra during the company’s Japan Tour. In 2011, Allan Kozinn described her performance in The New York Times as “focused” and “energetic” with regards to the New York Chamber Music Festival's September 11th Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Concert at Symphony Space. As a part of the Delphinium Trio, she performed in the opening concerts for the 11th Red Rocks Music Festival in Arizona. In Summer 2021, she made her return appearance at the Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, Colorado.
In addition to radio and television broadcast in the U.S., Japan, and Canada, she has recorded solo and chamber music for such labels as Nippon Columbia, MSR Classics, Urlicht AudioVisual, and Siegfried's Call. Ms. Kanamaru was invited by the Yamaha Corporation of America to give master classes and lectures in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Chicago, Jackson, and Washington D.C., and has also appeared at such academic institutions as the Indiana State, Syracuse, and Carnegie Mellon Universities. In addition to writing articles for several Japanese music magazines, Ms. Kanamaru co-edited more than 30 volumes of pedagogical piano music for the Yamaha Music Foundation. Her workshop at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago in 2009 was featured in The Washington Post and the BBC’s The World Today.
Ms. Kanamaru holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo. In the U.S., she studied at Eastman School of Music, and received an Advanced Certificate from The Juilliard School and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Having previously taught at the UC-CCM and College of Mount St. Joseph, she currently serves as Associate Professor/Keyboard Area Coordinator for The College of New Jersey.
Dr. Karina Bruk
Karina Bruk has performed solo, chamber music, and lecture recitals both in United States (Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, among others) and abroad. She has presented master classes and workshops at such venues as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ), the Handel Haus (Halle, Germany), The Isidor Bajic Music School (Novi Sad, Serbia), and throughout the local area. Currently, she performs with pianist Paul Hoffmann as the Bruk-Hoffmann Piano Duo and with baritone Perry Fine as the Fine-Bruk Duo.
Bruk has articles published in DSCH Journal and the Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century Encyclopedia; and had scholarly works presented at the International Conference of Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bruk has been a recipient of numerous awards, among them the GeniaRobinor Award for Teaching Excellence presented by the Piano Teachers Society of America.
Bruk has served as the graduate advisor and coordinator for graduate studies in music: the master of music, artist diploma and doctor of musical arts for the Mason Gross School of the Arts; the graduate advisor and coordinator for the master of arts and doctor of philosophy in musicology and in composition/theory for the School of Graduate Studies (2011-17); and as coordinator of the piano lab (2005-12). Bruk was also chair of the piano department at the Newark School of the Arts (2003-11) and served as an artist-in-residence (2011-14). She has been a judicator for the annual Young Artist Talent Search Jeffrey Carollo Scholarship Auditions at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. In addition, Bruk is the music director for the musical theatre camp at the South Orange/Maplewood Summer Program. Her professional organization affiliations include World Piano Teachers Association, Piano Teachers Society of America, and the Music Educators Association of New Jersey.
Dr. Anna Keiserman
Russian-born and New York-based pianist Anna Keiserman is known for her creative programming, expressive freedom, and singular vision.
Performance credits in New York City include performing at Le Poisson Rouge, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Fête de La Musique at the invitation of the French-American Piano Society. Other notable venues include the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts (Toms River, NJ) and the Strand Theater (Hudson Falls, NY), Ateneu Barcelonès (Barcelona, Spain). In the summer of 2019 Anna embarked on a concert tour through Spain, premiering the Sonata Cerdanyenca for Cello and Piano by Marc Migó Cortes.
As a soloist Anna has performed concerti with the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra (Volgograd, Russia), University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Somerset Symphony Orchestra among others, and also toured through Italy, Spain and Russia. Among Dr. Keiserman’s awards are top prizes in international piano competitions in Russia, as well as second place in the 2019 American Prize Competition. In 2017 Anna received the “Culture and Art Award” from the New Russia Cultural Center in Rensselaer, NY, for her dedication to promoting arts and culture in the community.
With her debut album, Russian Mosaic, released in 2019 on the Sheva Collection label, Anna offers rarely heard gems by Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin, Smirnov, and Medtner. Hailed as “the impressive pianist who played brilliantly” by New York Concert Review, the Atlanta Audio Club observed: “Her insights into the four masters of Russian piano music we have here bring them to instant, vibrant life before our very ears. Keiserman applies her notable brilliance to create the strongest impressions.”
Highlights of the 2022 season included concert tours and masterclasses in Minnesota, Virginia, Kansas, and a recording of solo piano works by composer Jordi Cervelló. The trio for saxophone, bassoon and piano Bercesue- Lament by Marc Migó Cortes will be released in the Fall 2022 by PARMA Records label. Dr. Keiserman has collaborated with many contemporary composers in projects including commissions, recordings, and world premieres. The current season featured premieres of works by John Sichel and Steve Cohen for the woodwind quintet Atlantic Chamber Players.
With a focus on actively engaging audiences, Anna created several custom programs for the Salmagundi Art Club in New York City. With her American Music 1917-18, Sounding Palettes, and New York Lights concerts, Anna invited audiences to explore surprising repertoire in a variety of cultural contexts. She is currently Artistic Director of the Mozaika Concert Series at Raritan Valley Community College, a series that has been created to promote multicultural dialogue through the performance of music from the classical canon through to the 21st century.
Anna Keiserman has served as faculty at the NYU Steinhardt School of the Arts, at the Rutgers University Extension Division, and at William Paterson University. Having earned degrees from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and the University of Minnesota, Dr. Keiserman completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance at Rutgers University, where she earned the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award for academic distinction and excellence in piano performance. In September 2020, Anna joined the faculty of Raritan Valley Community College as an Assistant Professor of Piano.