Heather Pinkham's Profile

Background:

I am a pianist, composer, and musicologist originally from California and residing in The Netherlands. I hold a Master of Music in Composition from Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Tilburg, a Master of Arts degree in Cognitive Musicology from the University of Amsterdam, and a Bachelor of Arts double major in Music (piano performance and musicology) and Italian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. During this time, I studied with Richard Taruskin and Nicholas Mathew, among others. After graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I studied for two years privately with prominent Bay Area pianist, Diane Hidy. I currently play piano in the contemporary music trio No Piece of Wood, with Sjors van der Mark on electric guitar and Hanna van Rooijen, soprano. With this trio, I perform, among other contemporary repertoire, my own music. In addition to composing for my own ensemble, I have composed for soloists Ralph van Raat, Vincent van Amsterdam, Niek Baar, Maya Fridman, and Tom Sanderman, among others. I have also composed pieces for the Merced Symphony Orchestra in California, the Euregio Jeugdorkest, November Music Festival, the Nationale Opera Studio, and the Opera Forward Festival (2020) in Amsterdam. In May 2020, I initiated the project Music for Empty Spaces, in which 12 composers (including myself) wrote 12 pieces for 12 solo musicians, all reflecting on the corona crisis. The event was live-streamed by NPO Radio 4 from an empty Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam. While at UC Berkeley, I studied piano with Jacqueline Chew and Debora Petrina. I also spent a year in a full-immersion Italian language study abroad program at L’Universita’ degli studi di Padova, in Padua, Italy. I have participated in masterclasses with prominent fortepianists Malcolm Bilson, Bart van Oort, and Geoffrey Govier, as well as with leading modern piano accompanist Malcolm Martineau. In 2014, I participated in a summer chamber music workshop at La Schola Cantorum in Paris. While there, I participated in masterclasses with Henri Gronnier, Simone Dinnerstein, and Roy Howat.