Chamber Music Masterclass with Read Gainsford, pianist

Duke Music masterclasses are free and open to the public.

Born in New Zealand, Gainsford studied at the University of Auckland under Janetta MacStay and Bryan Sayer where he received a grant from the Woolf Fisher Trust and the top prize in the Television New Zealand Young Musician of the Year. He then relocated to London where he worked at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a pupil of the renowned pedagogue Joan Havill. Later he moved to the USA, earning a doctorate at Indiana University under Professor Karen Shaw. He has performed widely in the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. He has made successful solo debuts in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and London's Wigmore Hall, as well as performances in the Kennedy Center, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and others. Gainsford returns regularly to his home country of New Zealand to perform, teach, and visit family.

Formerly on the faculty at Ithaca College where he received the college-wide Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004, Dr. Gainsford is currently Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard at Florida State University. He is highly in demand as a masterclass clinician and teacher, having recently appeared at the Chautauqua Institution, Bennington Chamber Music Conference, and multiple collegiate piano workshops.