Mozart, No. 19 in F Major
Mozart, No. 21 in C Major
Haydn, D Major
Beethoven, No. 1 in C Major
Beethoven, No. 2 in Bb Major
Schumann, A Minor
Mendelssohn, G Minor
Rachmaninoff, No. 2 in C Minor
Prokofiev, No. 3 in C Major
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue

Heather enjoys passing on to the next generation all she has learned. She has a robust private teaching studio in the Chicago area. She teaches students of all ages, beginners through advanced, meeting students where they are, singularly shaping the educational track to the individual.Heather’s teaching philosophy is to find what is alive towards music within each student and fan the flame, sharing her own delight for the content, skill in technique, and experience, while challenging students to new heights and encouraging them as they go. Often her students surprise themselves through the process. Each one enjoys what they are doing, and the daily practice and dedication must come from that place first.Heather has been teaching for 30 years. She has a vast breadth of understanding through experience of neurological development in the context of her craft, and likes to employ different teaching styles based on the presented needs.Heather’s studio gives two recitals a year, and holds a handful of studio classes through the year as well.

Chamber

Winter 2024/2025Terra Trio: Grace Liu, Jean Hatmaker, Heather Peterson

A delicately curated smorgasbord of works by a tasteful grouping of composers, both classic and modern.Beethoven, Piano Trio No. 5 in D, Op70 No 1- “Geistertrio” I: Allegro vivace e con brio
Debussy, Petite Suite for Cello and Piano: Menuet
JS Bach, Italian Concerto II: Andante
Florence Price, Elfentanz
Georg Goltermann, Danses Allemandes pour violoncello et piano
William Grant Still, Suite for Violin and Piano. I: African Dancer
Brahms, Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8. I: Allegro con brio

Solo

Spring/Summer 2024Tone Poems: Belonging

A recent and current exploration in looking for where I belong, being lured into fantasy realities, appreciating this earth, belonging here, thinking about who I belong to, choosing to belong in my own Life, and choosing to Live Now.Ravel, Gaspard de la Nuit, mvt. i: Ondine.
Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 3, Paysage.
Brahms, Capriccio in b minor, Op 76 No 2.
Brahms, Two Intermezzi, Op 118, Nos. 2 and 6.

Recent Programs (2023)Winter Sounds: Heralding Bells

An exploration of heralding messages, sounds, textures, meanings, and uses of bells.Bach Toccata in D
Chopin Polonaise in Ab, ‘Heroic’
Liszt Paganini Etude La Campanella
Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso
Chopin Etude in E, Op. 10 No. 3

Full Circle: Joy

In an exploration during the context of my deepest grief, I found myself returning most frequently to these selections. Surpisingly, these pieces did not express composers' sorrow, but joy. It was in the midst of my most profound loss and pain that I discovered the greatest beauty and joy.Beethoven Waldstein Sonata
Brahms Variations on a Theme by Handel
Ravel Toccata from Tombeau de Couperin

Concerti (2024)

Rachmaninoff, No. 2 in C, Op. 18.
Prokofiev, No. 3 in C, Op. 26.

Official Bio 2025

Heather Peterson is an accomplished classical pianist who masterfully blends the highest level of technique with a fundamental expression of humanity, bringing profound depth, peace, and maturity to her performances. She holds a Master's degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Elisabeth Pridonoff. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Piano from Northern Illinois University, studying under the late Donald Walker.An active performing pianist and event curator, Heather is always looking for ways to bring community together in harmony around organic music. Over the last several years she has created and curated scores of social gatherings, salons, soirees, recitals, and concerts, in both solo and collaborative veins. Making music with other musicians and sharing music with music-lovers is, in Heather's opinion, one of the most fulfilling and meaningful experiences life has to offer.As an exploration into her own search to understand how the artist fits into society, Heather created and presented her 2024 solo program, entitled Tone Poems: Belonging. Her local performance tour of this program included seven well-attended concerts set in private homes and public organizational institutions, including two churches, a local Jewish temple, and the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association, a local historical societal organization whose event offerings specialize in classical concerts of the highest caliber. In her program, and in partnership with the composers of the chosen repertoire, Heather utilized the material to push the boundaries and limitations of the rigidity of the instrument, exploring mastery of sounds, meters and techniques not easily rendered on the black-and-white hammer-struck piano. Through this medium Ms. Peterson created multiple levels of metaphor, expressing the experience of her own life as an artist searching for belonging. Traveling through the fantastical and narcissistic watery underworld of Ravel's Ondine from Gaspard de la Nuit, to the comforting pastoral landscape of Liszt's Transcendental Etude No. 3, to Brahms' playful Capriccio in B minor, finishing the program with two Brahms Intermezzos (Op. 118) depicting deepest sorrow, grief and loss, and a simple unadorned melody. Heather asks herself and her audience the deeper question: Must I always perform in order to belong? Or is it enough to just be me, however simple?To culminate her 2024 presentation season of Tone Poems: Belonging, Heather performed and recorded the program in October on the Steinway at Torrey-Gray Auditorium, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.Pianist for the recently-formed Terra Trio, Ms. Peterson also enjoys collaborating with violinist Grace Liu and cellist Jean Hatmaker. Terra Trio's 2024/2025 program includes a smorgasbord of works by composers ranging from old favorites like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Debussy, to lesser-known, more recent composers like William Grant Still and Florence Price. Their soulful and sincere interpretations of the repertoire inspire and revive audiences, while bringing a breath of fresh air to the environments in which they release their sound. A recording of their program can be found on their website at https://terratrio.coIn 2023 Heather and her husband created a recurring salon in their home, featuring various collaborative concerts involving professional performers, up-and-coming students, and hobbyists alike. Their house-concerts quickly became a well-loved neighborhood gathering, bursting at the seams, and included all types of genres, including classical, ambient and electronic music, jazz, singer/songwriter, opera and art song, chamber music, and even a Christmas Carol sing-along.When she isn't cooking up a living-room concert program, Ms. Peterson can be found engaging in the younger artist and student communities locally and in the city. She accompanies private collegiate voice lessons at Moody Bible Institute and freelances as an accompanist often within the local grade schools, middle schools, and high school.As a young student, Heather showed remarkable musical achievements early on, competing in over 25 regional, national and international piano competitions through her childhood and young adult years, winning and placing in several. At 13 Heather performed on WFMT live radio in Chicago as a winner in the Beautiful Sound Steinway Piano Young Artists Competition. In high school she was a Semi-Finalist in the International Stravinsky Competition of Young Musicians, and during her freshman year of college she won 1st place in the Anderson University Concerto-Aria competition. She went on to win 1st place in the Kishwaukee Concerto competition, 1st place in the NIU Concerto competition, and 2nd place in the Mendelssohn Club competition. She was also the recipient of 7 collegiate scholarships and 9 academic excellence awards. Heather performed concerti with the NIU Symphony Orchestra, the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, and the Kishwaukee Valley Symphony Orchestra.Ms. Peterson has held several part time and full-time education and director positions at various institutions. She has served as music director, choral director, and retained other faculty positions in music history, choir, general music, private piano, and class piano courses at institutions including Illinois Central College, Aletheia Classical Christian Academy, Peoria Academy, Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Peoria, Illinois, and Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois. Heather has previously held professional accompanying positions with Opera Illinois, Illinois Central College, and Morton Community Chorus.Ever the educator and entrepreneur at heart, Ms. Peterson taught private lessons from her piano studio for 30 years, managing her private teaching business and sharing the love of learning and the love of music with hundreds of young budding pianists, ranging from beginning to advanced levels of all ages.Heather was also a founding member, keyboardist and vocalist of rock band Hello Industry for 18 years, co-writing and recording three original albums and performing for hundreds of student organization events, retreats, and conferences.Heather lives in the Chicago area with her husband, their four amazing musical children.

Photos

Become a Patron of the Arts-- my personal art-- with your one-time donation or ongoing contributions. Your generous gifts have a profound impact on my work: they make it possible and sustainable for me to continue sharing the gift of music generously.In partnership and gratitude,Heather

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