FIRST FRIDAYS - Derek Hartman

Winner of the 17th International Beethoven Piano Competition, American pianist Derek Hartman enjoys a varied career as an internationally-renowned performer, a dedicated educator, and an enthusiastic advocate for music. He has performed on prominent stages across the United States and Europe, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2025, Mr. Hartman became the first American-born pianist to win the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna since the event's founding in 1958. He also won top prizes in the Washington International Piano Competition, the Chicago International Music Competition, the PianoArts North American Competition, and the Music Teachers’ National Association Young Artist Piano Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Clara Schumann Philharmonic (Germany). An avid chamber musician, Mr. Hartman has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including violist Jordan Bak and flutist András Adorján, and he is a regular Faculty-Artist of the ContemporArt Chamber Music Festival in Satu Mare, Romania. He has performed chamber music as a fellow of the Bowdoin International Music Festival and frequently appears in concert series across the United States. Mr. Hartman’s musical interests are not limited to the classical piano sphere, as his eclectic musical background includes training and experience in jazz, popular music, improvisation, composition, music theory, and continuo performance. He is dedicated to performing and promoting music of our time, and he has collaborated with such composers as Lila Meretzsky, Benjamin Webster, Derek Bermel, and Michael Slayton. Mr. Hartman is a Bösendorfer Artist.