Robert Shannon

  • Professor of Piano
  • Director, Cooper International Competition for piano

Areas of Study

Education

  • BM, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
  • BA, Oberlin College
  • MA, Juilliard School
  • Studied with Klaus Goetze, Arthur Dann, Jack Radunsky, Ania Dorfmann, Dorothy Taubmann and Vladimir Ashkenazy

Biography

As a performer, educator, and recording artist, pianist Robert Shannon has traveled across the world performing and teaching a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to John Adams. A double-degree alumnus of Oberlin, Shannon earned a Master of Music at the Juilliard School. He has studied with Klaus Goetze, Arthur Dann, Jack Radunsky, Ania Dorfmann, Dorothy Taubman, and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

In recent seasons, he has appeared in Beijing, London, Hamburg, New York, San Francisco, and Caracas. His numerous performances and recordings on the Bridge label of 20th- and 21st-century composers such as George Crumb, Carla Bley, and John Harbison have been met with critical praise, particularly his penetrating interpretations of such American composers as Charles Ives.

He has appeared at the Grand Teton, Tibor Varga, and Sacramento American Music festivals; as a guest artist with the Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players; and in duo recitals with his wife, Haewon Song, who also is a piano professor at Oberlin Conservatory. He is the founder and director of the Cooper International Competition for Piano at Oberlin, an important international youth competition.

Fall 2024

Principal Private Study - Piano — PVST 001
Secondary Private Study - Piano — PVST 051
Senior Honors in Piano Performance — APST 400
Performance Ensembles (Artist Diploma) — APST 600
Performance Project (Artist Diploma) — APST 601
Chamber Music — APST 800
Contemporary Chamber Music — APST 805
Piano Ensemble — APST 810

Spring 2025

Principal Private Study - Piano — PVST 001
Secondary Private Study - Piano — PVST 051
Senior Honors in Piano Performance — APST 401
Performance Ensembles (Artist Diploma) — APST 600
Performance Project (Artist Diploma) — APST 601
Chamber Music — APST 800
Contemporary Chamber Music — APST 805
Piano Ensemble — APST 810

News

Oberlin's Cooper International Competition for Piano Returns in 2023

April 7, 2023

“We are thrilled to bring back the Cooper piano competition and to collaborate with the Cleveland Orchestra once again as we celebrate the best young piano talent in the world,” says Oberlin Professor of Piano Robert Shannon, Cooper piano competition director and jury chair. Applications are due on April 25.