Michelle Cann

Michelle Cann, piano
Michelle Cann began studying piano at the age of seven and since then has placed in various state, national and international competitions, including the Music Teacher’s National Association Competition, the International Russian Piano Music Competition, the Gilmore Piano Foundation Competition and the Blount Young Artists National Competition. She made her orchestral debut at the age of 14 and since then has been invited to perform with various orchestras, including the Florida Orchestra, Tampa Bay Symphony, Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra. She has performed on the nationally-broadcast radio show, "From the Top," hosted by pianist Christopher O’ Riley; was featured as the inaugural performer on WRTI 90.1 Philadelphia's new series, "In Recital," and select performances have been broadcast regularly on Philadelphia's WHYY Television.
 
Cann has worked with many esteemed artists who include world-renowned pianists Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro, Joela Jones, Sergei Babayan, Jerome Lowenthal and Richard Goode. During past summers, Cann has been accepted into such competitive programs as Taos Chamber Music Festival and School, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music festival, directed by renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. Other engagements include performances in the South Hampton Cultural Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory and the Woodmere Art Museum.
 
Cann was selected to perform with students and alumni including President Roberto Diaz, of the Curtis Institute of Music, in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and China. She also performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the New Jersey Symphony in February 2019. Cann received her BM and MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music and recently graduated with an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied under Robert McDonald.
 
In 2016, Cann performed the New York premiere of the Piano Concerto by Florence Price (1887-1953). Price was the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. The Boston Musical Intelligencer raved, “Michelle Cann, as the piano soloist, was a compelling, sparkling virtuoso, bringing this riveting work to life in its first New York performance.”
 
Cann and her sister Kimberly, also a concert pianist, perform across the USA and internationally as The Cann Sisters Duo.

Banner photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography
Photo of Michelle Cann by Karen Jenkins