Pianist Robert Cassidy has performed in solo and collaborative recitals and with orchestra throughout the United States and Canada, and has received critical acclaim for his performances and recordings of both solo piano repertoire and chamber music. He received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky, Constance Keene, and Marc Silverman, and subsequently studied with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University. He holds a Doctor of Arts Degree in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying/Piano Performance from Ball State University, where he studied with Robert Palmer.
Dr. Cassidy has appeared in such venues as New York City’s Merkin and Weill Halls, the Lyceum in Alexandria (VA), Santa Barbara City College (CA), and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. He has also been presented on radio stations WFMT in Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Series), WCLV and WCPN in Cleveland, and WNYC in New York (Around New York). A strong advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Cassidy has premiered works by the American composers David Noon and Keith Fitch. He is the pianist in the Cleveland-based Almeda Trio and regularly performs chamber music with members of The Cleveland Orchestra.
He has served on the keyboard faculties at Cleveland State University and The Cleveland Music Settlement, and is also a former faculty member of New York University, the University of Indianapolis, the 92nd Street Y School of Music (New York), Marian College (Indiana), Queens College Preparatory Division (New York), and Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI), among others.
An active and highly sought-after teacher and chamber music coach, Dr. Cassidy is in demand for master classes, workshops and lectures, private teaching, and adjudication. He has maintained a private studio at The Music Academy of the West since August, 2014.