Piano

UGA Piano Studies

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s piano department features internationally recognized faculty, attracting talented young musicians from the United States and abroad. The Hodgson School became Georgia's first All-Steinway School in 1996 and boasts outstanding performance and practice facilities with keyboard instruments maintained by two full-time Steinway-trained piano technicians. 

Piano students at the Hodgson School enjoy countless opportunities for solo and ensemble performances, including annual concerto competitions. Students have the opportunity to participate in and collaborate with the Hodgson School's numerous small chamber ensembles, orchestras, bands, and choirs. 

Additionally, students can gain valuable experience as educators through teaching at UGA's Community Music School and participating in numerous other experiential programs, including international collaborations in remote piano teaching. Scholarships and graduate teaching assistantships are available to qualifying applicants.

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Personnel

Damon Denton

Resident Accompanist, Senior Academic Professional

Damon Denton was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Severna Park, Maryland. He is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Juilliard School where he received a Master of Music degree studying under Russian pianist, Oxana Yablonskaya. He has been a faculty accompanist at the University of Georgia…

Grace Huang

Lecturer of Piano Pedagogy and Class Piano Coordinator

Grace Huang teaches undergraduate and graduate pedagogy courses, class piano, and oversees all aspects of the class piano program. Additionally, she owns and operates an independent piano studio in Athens. Prior to her UGA appointment, Dr. Huang was on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she maintained a studio in the…

Emely Phelps

Assistant Professor of Piano

Praised by the Boston Globe for her “fleet, energetic, and bright-toned” playing, pianist Emely Phelps enjoys a versatile career as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Second prize winner of the 2023 Ernst Bacon Prize for American Music, Emely has given more than 50 performances over the past two years, with recent highlights including an…

Evgeny Rivkin

Professor of Piano

Not accepting new students.

Evgeny Rivkin came to the University of Georgia in 1995 as a professor at the School of Music. Before coming to UGA, Rivkin was a professor of piano at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia. In addition to presenting master classes worldwide, Rivkin continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician…

Greg Satterthwaite

Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano and African-American Studies

Melodic, soulful and smooth, Dr. Greg Satterthwaite brings an energy and touch to the piano that has become his signature sound. He has performed at festivals and venues including the Swan City Piano Festival, Denton Arts and Jazz Festival, SunFest, the Velvet Note, Good Times Jazz Bar & Restaurant, the University of South Carolina, and the…

Anatoly Sheludyakov

Resident Accompanist, Senior Academic Professional

A native of Moscow, Anatoly Sheludyakov graduated from the Gnesin's Musical Academy and completed doctoral studies there under professor Anatoly Vedernikov. He also graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of Tikhon Khrennikov. His compositions include Variations for Orchestra, Ostinato for Orchestra, Suite for Oboe and…

Liza Stepanova

Despy Karlas Professor in Piano, Piano Area Chair

Praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” Liza Stepanova is in demand as a soloist, collaborator, and educator. In the 2024-2025 season, she performs and teaches at the Bowdoin, Brevard, Music in May in Santa Cruz, CA, and Songfest at Pomona College summer festivals, directs the prestigious…

James Weidman

Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano and African-American Studies

Decades long experience with a multitude of notable artists -- from his early days as accompanist to iconic vocalists Abbey Lincoln and Cassandra Wilson, on to his years as a member of M-Base Collective innovator Steve Coleman’s group and music director for the late great Kevin Mahogany, up to his current tenure with saxophonist Joe Lovano’s…

Alan Woo

Assistant Professor of Piano

Praised by the New York Times as a pianist with “assurance and vitality,” Alan Woo made his Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall performing with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He has since collaborated with conductors Daniel Hege, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Tito Muñoz in solo appearances with the Houston and…