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Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor, piano
Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor is an Icelandic-American pianist celebrated for her captivating performances of depth and nuance. Internationally recognized for her artistry, she has championed Nordic piano repertoire on stages across the globe, including special programs in Washington, D.C. for the Ambassador of Iceland and President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Her career has taken her to concert halls throughout the United States, Iceland, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Serbia, Canada, Latvia, and Lithuania.
At age 16, Kristín was a foreign student in Iceland and studied with Halldór Haraldsson before continuing her training at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music under Joanne Baker and Richard Cass. She later earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff. Additional European and American studies brought her under the guidance of Diane Andersen, Daniel Blumenthal, Jacques Lagarde, Perfecto Garcia Chornet, Vit Gregor, Einar Steen-Nøkleberg, John Perry, Antoinette Perry, and Jean-David Coen.
Her artistry has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Grand Prize in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition, the winner of the 2025 Solo Piano Professional Division of The American Prize, 3rd Place in the American Prize Marian Anderson Award in Social Justice, an Honorable Mention recognition for the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music, and two silver medals from the Global Music Awards. Performance highlights include appearances at the Classical Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, the internationally renowned Reykjavík Arts Festival with an all-Schumann recital, and frequent concerto engagements with orchestras across the United States and Europe.
A two-time Fulbright Scholar to Iceland, Kristín researched and wrote her doctoral thesis on Jón Nordal's Piano Concerto (2004–2005) and later returned to Iceland to study the music of Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (2010). She co-founded the Atlantic Piano Duo with pianist Bryan Stanley and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Homo ludens Publishing, a publishing house dedicated to showcasing innovative works born from playful exploration. Her discography reflects a deep commitment to Nordic and American repertoire: The Well-Tempered Pianist: The Solo Piano Works of Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (Iceland Music Information Center, 2010), Kristín Jónína Taylor (Pólarfónía Records, 2011), Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson: Short Stories for Flute and Piano (Smekkleysa Records, 2014), Gone but not Forgotten (with trumpeter Marc Reed and pianist Bryan Stanley, released by MarkMasters, 2016), and most recently, the award-winning Midwest Piano Sonatas (Navona Records, 2024), which showcases the lyrical works of three leading Midwestern composers.
Currently Associate Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Coordinator at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Kristín is an active teacher, leader, and scholar, serving as Coordinator of the annual UNO Maverick PianoFest. She was President of the College Music Society's Central Regional Chapter and presented at conferences for MTNA (local, state, and national), NCKP, CMS (regional and national), Mu Phi Epsilon, the World Piano Conference, EPTA, the Hawaii International Conferences on Arts and Humanities, and the Athens International Conference on Visual and Performing Arts. She was recently featured in the online course entitled "Piano Teaching through the Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" through the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. In 2022, she was honored as Nebraska Teacher of the Year by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association.
A Steinway Artist, Kristín was also inducted into the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in 2021.