Sandra Nam

A native of Los Angeles, pianist Sandra Nam moved to Vienna, Austria, at the age of 10 to pursue her musical studies. While living in Europe for almost 20 years, she completed both bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from the Universität (former Hochschule) für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien and the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, France. She also studied Musicology at the Universität Wien and Université Paris IV Sorbonne and is fluent in four languages.

An enthusiastic collaborative pianist, her experience ranges from coaching instrumental and vocal artists, performing in chamber music ensembles and extends to opera répétiteur, orchestral piano, choral piano and musical theater productions. In 2017, Dr. Nam was invited by Opera Santa Barbara as a Mosher Studio Young Artist as rehearsal and chorus pianist for mainstage productions, Santa Barbara Youth Opera and coach for the Opera Santa Barbara Mosher Studio Young Artists. During this period, she performed in over 60 concerts organized by OSB and functioned as rehearsal pianist for Leoš Janàček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Giacomo Puccini’s La Rondine. Notable engagements include performing Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto at Walt Disney Hall, a concert in Vienna in collaboration with the Austrian Classical Radio Station Ö1, and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana Two Pianos and Percussion version. She has participated in masterclasses by Warren Jones, Martin Katz, Peter Kazaras, Catherine Miller, Kostis Protopapas and Alan Smith and frequently plays for competitions and auditions in the Southern California area.

Sandra Nam holds both MM and DMA degrees in Keyboard Collaborative Arts from USC’s Thornton School of Music with minor fields in Music Education, Arts Leadership and Piano Performance under the tutelage of Prof. Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Prof. Bernadene Blaha and Dr. Alan Smith. She graduated Pi Kappa Lambda and was awarded the Ensemble and Departmental Awards. During her studies, Dr. Nam served as teaching assistant, collaborating with studios of Glenn Dicterow, Pamela Frank, Rod Gilfry, Cristian Grases, Elizabeth Hynes, Ralph Kirshbaum, Sharon Lavery, Larry Livingston, Donald McInnes, David Allen Moore, Jo-Michael Scheibe and Nick Strimple