David Korevaar

  • Professor of Piano
  • Distinguished Professor
  • Helen and Peter Weil Faculty Fellow
  • PIANO + KEYBOARD

Hailed for his 鈥渨onderfully warm, pliant, spontaneous playing鈥 by the Washington Post, award winning pianist David Korevaar is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborator. Korevaar has performed and given master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. Recent highlights include recitals and master classes in Taipei, and a tour of Brazil, with recitals and master classes in S茫o Paulo, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Jo茫o Pessoa, Recife and Natal. He has also concertized and given master classes in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan as part of the U.S. State Department鈥檚 Cultural Envoy program and taught at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul. 

Korevaar's active career includes solo performances with the Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Japan鈥檚 Shonan Chamber Orchestra, Brazil鈥檚 Goiania Symphony, and with acclaimed conductors Guillermo Figueroa, Per Brevig, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Jorge Mester. His performance of John Cage鈥檚 Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Paul Zukofsky was praised by the New York Times "as admirably projected in the devoted and lovely performance of David Korevaar." David was honored to work with Cage to prepare the concerto.

A passionate and committed collaborator, Korevaar is a founding member of the Boulder Piano Quartet, currently in residence at The Academy in Boulder, for which he curates a chamber music series. He performs regularly with the Tak谩cs Quartet, and recently appeared with them on the Great Performers Series at New York鈥檚 Lincoln Center. Korevaar performs and records with distinguished colleagues including the New York Philharmonic Ensembles, violinists Charles Wetherbee, Anne Akiko Myers, Vadim Gluzman, Chee-Yun, Harumi Rhodes, Edward Dusinberre, Emi Ohi Resnick and Philip Quint, violists Geraldine Walther and Matthew Dane, cellists David Requiro and Peter Wyrick, flutists Alexa Still and Christina Jennings and the Shanghai, Manhattan and Colorado Quartets. In 2020, Korevaar will continue his association with the Boulder Mahlerfest, with a performance of Messiaen鈥檚 Quartet for the End of Time, as well as a return to the Concerts in the Barn series in Quilcene, WA, with the Carpe Diem String Quartet. He was a founding member of the Prometheus Piano Quartet, and was a long-time member of the Clavier Trio whose artistry was recognized as 鈥渆xceptional, impressive, fresh and inspired.鈥 Korevaar has appeared on some of the country鈥檚 most distinguished chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, Spivey Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Gardner Museum, the Krannert Center, the Ordway Theater, Kennedy Center, Davies Symphony Hall and for the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, among others.

Korevaar鈥檚 most recent addition to his extensive discography of nearly 40 titles is a highly acclaimed disc of world premiere recordings of piano music by the largely forgotten Italian impressionist composer Luigi Perrachio. 鈥淧errachio鈥檚 works require a pianist with virtuosic technique and an artist鈥檚 sensitivity for producing a wide spectrum of tone color. David Korevaar is the right pianist for these pieces鈥 wrote American Record Guide. Last fall also saw the release of two recordings with violinist Charles Wetherbee, including works by Iranian-American composer Reza Vali issued on MSR, and a Naxos disc of the three violin sonatas by Russian/German composer Paul Juon. He returns to the recording studio this season to record Richard Danielpour鈥檚 The Celestial Circus for two pianos and three percussionists with pianist Angelina Gadeliya. Other recent releases include the third volume of Lowell Liebermann鈥檚 piano music, a compelling Chopin recital, and world premiere recordings of music for violin and piano by Hungarian-born Parisian composer Tibor Hars谩nyi with Charles Wetherbee. Korevaar is well-known for his Bach recordings, including the Six Partitas, Goldberg Variations, and the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier鈥攔ecognized as a Critic鈥檚 Choice by American Record Guide. Along with recordings of music by Beethoven, Brahms, Faur茅, and Ravel, he has recorded 3 discs dedicated to the solo and chamber music of Paul Hindemith, solo piano music by Ernst von Dohn谩nyi, and rarely heard treasures by French composers Louis Aubert and Jean Roger-Ducasse from the University of Colorado鈥檚 Ricardo Vi帽es Piano Music Collection. His long association with the American composer Lowell Liebermann has resulted in five recordings to date, including three collections of solo piano music, an album with flutist Alexa Still, and a chamber music compilation with clarinetist Jon Manasse, members of the Boulder Piano Quartet and baritone Patrick Mason.

Korevaar is dedicated to championing the works of contemporary composers and has performed and recorded works by Lera Auerbach, David Carlson, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Paul Schonfield, Aaron Jay Kernis, George Rochberg, George Crumb, Stephen Jaffe, and performed the New York premiere of Harrison鈥檚 Clocks by Harrison Birtwistle. His long-standing advocacy of the music of Lowell Liebermann led to a recent residency by the composer at the University of Colorado. He regularly performs works by University of Colorado colleagues Michael Theodore, Mike Barnett, and Carter Pann, as well as works by aspiring and established composers in his mission to inspire future generations. 

Balancing an active performing schedule along with teaching at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Korevaar is a Distinguished Professor, only the second to bear that title in the College of Music and holds the Peter and Helen Weil fellowship in piano. He was also honored by the University in 2016 as a Distinguished Research Lecturer, a first in the College of Music.

In addition to being a gifted pianist Korevaar, who studied composition with David Diamond, has composed works for solo piano, chamber ensemble, and a piano concerto for full or chamber orchestra. His transcriptions of Franz Liszt鈥檚 Symphonic Poems Festkl盲nge and Orpheus can be heard on Helicon Classical鈥檚 release of Liszt鈥檚 Orchestral Transcriptions for Solo Piano with Korevaar at the piano.   

Highlights of Korevaar鈥檚 media credits include appearances on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, NPR, Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday, WQXR, WDAV, TPR, KFAC, WGBH, WNYC and Colorado Public Radio.

Korevaar鈥檚 honors include the Richard French award from the Juilliard School, honoring his doctoral document on Ravel鈥檚 Miroirs, top prizes from the University of Maryland William Kapell International Piano Competition and the Peabody-Mason Foundation, as well as the prize for best performance of French music at the Robert Casadesus International Competition. He was also a winner of Young Concert Artists as a member of the group Hexagon.

David Korevaar began piano studies at age six in San Diego, California, with Sherman Storr鈥攁n alumnus and former faculty member of the CU College of Music. At age 13 he became a student of the great American virtuoso Earl Wild. By age 20 he had earned his Bachelor鈥檚 and Master鈥檚 degrees from the Juilliard School, where he continued his studies with Earl Wild. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at the Juilliard School as a student of Abbey Simon. A very important mentor and teacher was French pianist Paul Doguereau, who had been a student of Egon Petri, and studied the music of Faur茅 and Debussy with Faur茅鈥檚 student Roger-Ducasse, and the music of Ravel with the composer.

Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Colorado in 2000, Korevaar taught at the Westport School of Music in Connecticut as Artist-Teacher. He is a Shigeru Kawai artist.

When not performing and teaching David enjoys reading, and running and hiking in the Colorado mountains.

Piano performance