Pianist Resources and Support
Pianist Resources and Support
The piano support team of UNCSA’s School of Music comprises professional pianists, graduate collaborative piano students and student pianists from the collaborative skills and chamber music classes. We provide coverage, without additional fees, for all required curricular performance activities, as well as the lessons and rehearsals that support the preparation of these. Pianist assignments with our staff and student pianists are determined by Dr. Allison Gagnon, Chair of Collaborative Piano, in consultation with each studio teacher and based on repertoire and performance goals. Piano support for both instrumentalists and singers is an integral part of music studies at UNCSA. We act as your teacher’s partner in your training, and your onstage playing partner!
Professional Piano Staff
The professionals on our team are School of Music faculty and staff members. They offer a remarkable breadth experience that supports you in lessons, masterclasses, juries, and recitals. Pianist(s) are assigned to each teacher’s studio according to curricular needs and the intricacies of the weekly schedule. Members of the team also work with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and Cantata Singers. All pianists have dedicated rehearsal space for their work with you. When extra-curricular projects arise, such as audition recordings and off-campus competitions, they are among those available to work with you. For extra-curricular projects, an additional fee will be charged.
The Piano Support Umbrella Policy is made available each academic year to all students and their teachers and provides full information about the pianist resources available to you.
Arianna Bohning
Having arrived from the Midwest, Arianna Bohning is a collaborative pianist currently residing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. An active freelance musician, she has collaborated with both large and small ensembles in the area, such as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony and Piedmont Wind Symphony.
Ashley Clasen
A native of Winston-Salem, Ashley Clasen studied piano performance with Eric Larsen and is an alumna of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Clasen’s career as an accompanist has spanned nearly fifteen years, having gained extensive collaborative experience performing with various instrumentalists, vocalists and ensembles.
Allison Gagnon
Dr. Allison Gagnon prepares her students to stand out through a broad and varied repertoire for preparation and performance and discipline-specific seminars in vocal/instrumental literature for collaborative pianists and support skills for collaborative pianists as part of their curriculum.
Nancy Johnston
Nancy Johnston holds degrees in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from Indiana University and the University of Illinois, where she was a student of John Wustman. She is principal keyboardist for the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Greensboro Symphony and Piedmont Opera Theatre.
Polina Khatsko
A native of Belarus, Polina Khatsko has established herself both as an active performer, coach, and a dedicated teacher. Passionate about instrumental collaboration, she enjoys continuous performances and recordings with fellow artists, encompassing a substantial repertoire for strings, woodwinds, and brass. Currently on staff at UNCSA, she is also a sought-after freelancer, regularly working with the violin studios of Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim at ECU, cello studio of Nancy Green, participating in several projects of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and Piedmont Opera.
Annah Oh
Annah Hyojin Oh, a native of South Korea, is a collaborative pianist at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has worked as a studio accompanist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Oh completed her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.
Robert Rocco
Robert Rocco is a native of western Pennsylvania, where he began piano studies with his mother at age five. He holds degrees in music performance from Carnegie Mellon and Yale University and was cited for achievement in solfège and music theory. Further studies have taken him to the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau as well as to the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he earned a certificate in German Lieder accompanying.
Lauren Winkelman
Lauren Winkelman, collaborative piano, is currently on the accompanying staff at UNC School of the Arts and at Wake Forest University. She was educated at Baldwin-Wallace College (B.M., piano) and The Cleveland Institute of Music (M.M., accompanying) where she received the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Award for Accompanying. Her primary teachers have included Anne Epperson, Anita Pontremoli, and George Cherry.
A versatile performer, Winkelman has appeared as both a soloist and a collaborator with orchestras, chamber music groups, individual soloists, and choirs. Most recent professional appointments include serving as the organist and handbell director at Knollwood Baptist Church and as the accompanist for the Winston-Salem Youth Chorus.
Collaborative Piano Students
The Collaborative Piano Program is an important component of keyboard studies in UNCSA’s School of Music. It also contributes to the spectrum of piano support available to you. Many of you will have the opportunity to collaborate with these students towards your performance projects. Student pianists, whether in the graduate collaborative piano program, or the introductory skills courses, are paired with student colleagues by Dr. Allison Gagnon, in consultation with applied faculty. Once paired with a collaborative piano student, instrumentalists and singers usually take part in the collaborative piano studio classes, and the introductory collaborative skills classes, depending on their student pianist partner’s level. This provides more opportunities to:
- Perform more frequently in our recital halls
- Work with fellow students, your professional colleagues in the future
- Learn about the pianist’s role in performance preparation and how this supports your work
To meet our current studio members in the graduate program visit our Meet the Studio page. You can also explore the career paths of our alumni from the collaborative piano studio.
For more information or questions about Pianist Resources at UNCSA contact Dr. Allison Gagnon at gagnona@uncsa.edu.