The Piano Discoveries Institute
at Hamilton College
is a five day intensive course,
9:00 am-2:00 pm,
for select pianists
entering grades 8-12
in Fall 2025.
Our mission is to shine a spotlight on
musical topics that often cannot be
included in weekly piano lessons.
Our target student plays at an advanced
or advanced intermediate level.
We explore the piano's history, repertoire,
ensemble playing, notable artists,
improvisation, and performance practices.
A new topic is introduced each day.
The course includes private lessons,
ensemble coachings, and practice time.
Each day concludes with a performance class.
Hamilton College is a Steinway school - students will be using all well-painted Steinway pianos, most of them grands. Parents and guests are invited
to the final recital.
We build confidence by providing
ample opportunities for performance experience.
Students perform every day,
enjoying substantially more on-stage exposure
than they might have in an entire year.
Tuition is $420 and enrollment is limited.
APPLICATION DUE JUNE 15, 2025
Faculty Bios
Elena Nezhdanova, Lecturer in Piano at Hamilton College, has performed in U.S., China, and Europe, as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She made her debut with orchestra at the age of eight in her native hometown in Russia. She has performed at Interlochen Center for the Arts and was invited to perform four times at the Lives of the Piano concert series at Manhattan School of Music. Elena presides over the NY state chapter of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA). As a passionate advocate for new music, Dr. Nezhdanova’s artistic collaborations with living composers resulted in many performances, including a commission for a large-scale sonata by composer Peter Learn, which awaits its premiere. Elena is a co-founding member of the Nezhdanova-Placzek Duo, which earned “Gold” and “Best Chamber Ensemble” award at the 3rd WPTA – Singapore International Piano Competition. As a published pedagogue, Nezhdanova has written extensively on the Irina Gorin method. She has presented workshops on piano pedagogy in Portugal, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.
Colleen Roberts Pellman received a Bachelor of Music degree in piano
performance from Miami University (O.) and a Master of Music degree in
piano performance from Ithaca College. Additional studies were with
Menahem Pressler, Malcolm Bilson, and Dr. Fred Karpoff. Ms. Pellman has
performed as half of the Pellman-Ucci four-hand piano duo, with many
student soloists at Hamilton College, and as accompanist for Oneida Area
Civic Chorale as well as choirs at Central Valley, Oneida, and Clinton
schools. She is a performing member of the B# Club, where she serves on
the scholarship and nominating committees, and co-chairs the pedagogy
discussion group. In 2023, after 43 years of service, she retired from
the piano faculty of Hamilton College, where she created a piano duet
class and served as an administrator for the accompanying program. Her
private students have consistently received superior ratings at National
Federation of Music Clubs and won prizes in the B# Scholarship
Competition and the CNYAMT Artists Piano competitions.
Monk Rowe weaves a robust career as a performer, educator and composer. He is a graduate of the SUNY Fredonia and has taught music at every level, from elementary school through college. In his position as Director of the Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College he has personally interviewed over 450 jazz artists to preserve their unique and significant life stories. He hosts the podcast Jazz Backstory, based on excerpts from these oral history interviews. Monk has presented programs on the blues, jazz history and improvised music at the International Association of Jazz Educators, the NY State School Music Association and at numerous CNY high schools. He has worked extensively in the field of aesthetic education with the Utica Arts in Education Institute as a teaching artist and artistic director. Equally adept performing on both piano and saxophone, Monk relates naturally to students and audiences of all ages. He currently performs with two groups, MoJoTo (Monk, John & Tom) and The Five Families Ensemble. His three CD releases are entitled Outstanding in His Field, Jazz Life and At the Piano.
Sar Shalom-Strong is known as a pianist with the versatility to jump between styles and genres. For over 35 years, he has worked with the fine musicians and international artists who live in or visit upstate New York. He has performed concerti and orchestral keyboard with the Utica Symphony, Hamilton College Orchestra, and Symphoria, and frequently appears on concert series throughout Central NY and the northeast. In CNY, he performs most frequently with The Society for New Music and has premiered many works with them. Mr. Strong is Lecturer in Piano and Coordinator of Staff Pianists and Piano Maintenance for Hamilton College, where he has been since 2001. He is Co-Chair of the Junior B-Sharp Musical Club and serves on the board of several CNY Arts organizations. His recordings, including eight with Ronald Caravan, can be found on Mark Recordings and Naxos online; those with the Society for New Music on Innova Records . Recent honors include an award from Society for New Music for his overall contribution to musical life in CNY, and a Top Teacher Award for 2022 from Steinway and Sons Pianos. In October 2023, Sar was inducted into the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the factory.
Tina Toglia, DMA, has been on the faculty of Hamilton College and Syracuse University. She has more than 40 years of performance experience as a soloist and chamber musician. An advocate for new music, she has performed premiere performances in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and Central New York. Her recording with Hamilton College soprano, Lauralyn Kolb, Just-Spring: Art Songs of John Duke, was recorded on New World Records as part of its Recorded Anthology of American Music. Of Time and Place- A Musical Canvas, her multidisciplinary collaboration with visual artist Mary P. Murphy, won numerous grants and commissioned new works for piano and piano ensemble. Her duo with pianist Ida Trebicka brings to the fore works by women composers and has appeared at such festivals as Music By Women. She maintains an active private studio and frequentl adjudicates for MTNA, CNYAMT, and National Federation. Dr. Toglia holds degrees from Stony Brook University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Syracuse University, and Temple University.