An active performer on both piano and viola, Hillary Nordwell has played chamber music throughout the United States, as well as in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Sweden. In 2006, she was invited as pianist of the Eusebius Duo to perform in Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall, New York), following the duo’s success as first prize winners of the CMFONE International Chamber Music Competition. Hillary has also been frequently featured as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous Bay Area concert venues.Hillary earned her masters degree in Chamber Music Performance in 2005 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Paul Hersh, Jodi Levitz, Axel Strauss, and Mark Sokol and participated in master classes with renowned artists Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz. In 2003, she completed her bachelors degree in Piano Performance, magna cum laude, at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she studied with Catherine Kautsky and was honored for three consecutive years with the Marjory Irvin Prize for “excellence in solo piano and chamber music.” In 2001, she spent a semester abroad in Vienna, studying piano with Christiane Karajeva and developing a love for opera and the German language.Though much of her performing involves works from the standard chamber music repertoire, Hillary also collaborates with CMASH, a New Music repertory group committed to establishing and nurturing long-term collaborative relationships between composers and performers. She has enjoyed exploring and premiering new vocal chamber music by Vartan Aghababian, Liam Wade, and Miriam Miller, through her collaboration with soprano Ann Moss and violist Alexa Beattie in the One Art Ensemble.Recent releases includeNordwell and Moss: Vartan Aghababian Songs for Voice and Pianoandsolo CDOpus 6: Robert and Clara Schumann.Alongside her performing career, Hillary maintained a thriving Suzuki Piano studio in Pacifica, California, and is already educating and nurturing a studio of young musicians in her new home in the Seattle area. She is the mother of an 8 year old daughter and is committed to inspiring children and their families through her Comfy Concert series.