Biography
Joining the historic Steinway Artist roster in 2019, American solo/collaborative pianist, Dr. Leann Osterkamp He is a master educator and presenter. She has performed at The Library of Congress, Caramoor, the Kennedy Center, The Baryshnikov Center, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Steinway Hall, Bellco Theater, Merkin Hall, and as a featured soloist with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Boettcher Concert Hall. The NY Times has described her as bringing “descriptive color” to her performances. The LA Times describes her as a “strong” collaborator with “the desired flashiness.”
Her work with Steinway began with her acceptance to the Young Steinway Artist roster in 2010. A recording artist, she has recorded for Steinway Spirio and her recordings of Ravel were featured by David Dubal on WQXR. Her solo album The Complete Works of Leonard Bernstein for Solo Piano and her recording of John Musto’s Improvisation & Fugue on a second album are released under the Steinway and Sons Label. Her featured album release concert at Steinway Hall was heralded as “breathtaking” and “one for the history books” by New York Music Daily. Her recordings were featured on Alex Ross’ (critic for The New Yorker) “Nightafternight” playlist. The Santa Fe New Mexican states, “she infuses her interpretations with vigor, wit, sonic color, and a variegated touch, drawing effectively on the broad expressive range of her instrument.” She has also been interviewed and featured by BBC Music Magazine and in a PBS Documentary.
She has garnered numerous accolades, in both performance and academia, starting with her first competitive win at age 8. She was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts through the United States Department of Education under President Obama. She is the first prize winner of the Schlern International Music Festival/Competition in Italy, the Wells/Steinway Concerto Competition, and the Music Teachers National Association at state and regional levels. She received a Silver Award at NFAA YoungArts and received The Pearla Despot Award at the 2013 Wideman International Piano Competition. She is a past recipient of the Gary J. Amsterdam Scholarship, Dorothy Rogers Smith Scholarship, and Joseph Fidelman Scholarship.
A recognized chamber artist in NY, she was the first pianist to ever be welcomed into the New York Festival of Song residencies, performing at Caramoor and collaborating with artists such as Michael Barrett, Steve Blier, William Bolcom, and Bright Sheng. Leann has appeared as a guest masterclass presenter with Chamber Music Associates. As a vocal coach, she received prestigious scholarships/fellowships to study vocal coaching at Songfest@Colburn and Middlebury College.
Having been a featured archival guest lecturer at The Library of Congress, Leann is a sought after presenter for her archival research and clinics on pedagogy and DEIA advocacy. Leann’s archival research was awarded the Baisley Powell Elebash Dissertation Award and the Knickerbocker Award for Archival Research in American Studies. She has lectured on this research at prestigious universities such as Brooklyn College, The Juilliard School, and The Graduate Center CUNY as well as the Early Research Initiative Conference. She served as guest editor for the 2019 American Music Review Journal. She frequently lectures and presents masterclasses for local and national teacher associations/competitions, recently including Steinway and Sons, Piano League, CMEA, CSMTA, PPMTA, SSMTA, BMTA, and was chosen to serve as the MTNA Colorado Competition chair for 2020-2022. Leann is a member of the Colorado State and Washington State Music Teachers Associations.
Most recently, Leann collaborated with ToneBase Piano as a guest artist to record a full curriculum series she created for beginner to intermediate students. Previously, Leann had recorded lessons on Mendelssohn and other intermediate works for the platform. She will be collaborating on a livestream event with Tonebase Fall 2022.
Leann is a former Faculty member at The Juilliard School, having taught for over five years in every area of the Keyboard Studies Department, including undergraduate and graduate courses in sight-reading, figured bass, score reading, and keyboard theory, in addition to multiple fellowships teaching piano literature and group piano. Finding a passion for working with students in the transition from secondary school to undergraduate, Leann served on the faculty of Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado for four years, where she served as Instrumental Director, Director of Band, Director of Orchestra, Director of Advanced Piano, Drumline Director, Musical Theater/Pit Band Director, and Mens Choirs Director. She also taught courses in history/theory, piano, guitar, and vocal coaching. Leann also maintains a thriving private studio, specializing in online education.
She received her BM and MM from The Juilliard School and her DMA from The Graduate Center CUNY.
In addition to concertizing, lecturing, and teaching, Leann uses all of her performances to fundraise for cancer victims as part of her charity project, The Broken Wing Charity, which she began in January 2020. She is passionate about dogs, family, Jiu Jitsu, wine, food and learning new languages. Leann recently relocated to Seattle with her incredible husband and three rescue dogs, Rio, Rocky, and Remi.