Neal Kurz has performed extensively as a collaborative pianist, appearing in performance with Camilla Wicks, Arthur Weisberg, Kathleen Winkler, Norman Fischer, Sadao Harada, Lawrence Stombert, Kate Ransom and Kenneth Goldsmith. He is a member of the collaborative piano staff at the Shepherd School of Music, working with the students of Kathleen Winkler, Cho-Liang Lin, Ivo van der Werff and Lynn Harrell. He has studied with Frank Glazer and Rebecca Penneys at the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree, and Martin Katz at the University of Michigan, where he received a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music. He has appeared on numerous occasions as a keyboardist with the Houston Symphony, and has accompanied the orchestra on their tour performances in Carnegie hall and in the UK. He has also worked with contestants of the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg Competition for over 20 consecutive years.
Mr. Kurz has been on the staff at the Meadowmount School of Music, appearing in concert at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts with Alan Bodman and Corey Cerovsik. He has appeared in many performances at the Festival Institute at Roundtop, TX, where he has appeared in performance with Jorja Fleezanis, Peter Rejto, James Dunham, Håkan Rosengren and the Dorian Wind Quintet. He has accompanied competitors at several international competitions, including the William Byrd Young Artist Competition, and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Sorantin International Competition and the Corpus Christi Young Artists’ Competition. He has also worked with Houston Grand Opera as a coach. Mr. Kurz has also arranged and performed numerous scores for silent films; DVD releases include “Captain Fracasse”, “The Parson’s Widow” and “Michael”, “Unseen Cinema” and George Melies: Cinema Magician. Several of these releases have aired on Turner Classic Movies.
