Piano
When the University of Illinois opened its doors in 1872, the first music hire was a piano instructor, and that’s how highly we still value our keyboardists. Igor Stravinsky and his son Soulima came to perform on the campus in 1949, and were so impressed with UIUC that Soulima Stravinsky remained on the faculty for more than twenty years. One of Stravinsky’s students, William Heiles, chairs the piano division with great dedication to his students and continued interest in new music. He has brought music by Bach to Iceland, Boulez to New York City, Chopin to Chicago, and Ligeti to Urbana. Internationally known Ian Hobson, who won the Leeds Competition in England, has since been a judge in the Cliburn Competition. A prodigious repertoire, spanning all of the Chopin, Beethoven, and many other oeuvres, can be heard on dozens of his CDs. Pianist and pilot Timothy Ehlen not only concertizes across the globe, but sometimes flies himself to engagements. If you still think pianists are a dime a dozen, however, consider that UIUC owns 21 Steinway Model L grands for you to practice on, and they cost a lot more.