Faculty

Veronica O'Brien

Piano

A passionate, knowledgeable, and diversely experienced pianist and musician, Veronica O’Brien constantly searches for new insights in her solo and collaborative performances and piano teaching to spark excitement and appreciation in her audiences and students.

 

As a pianist, Veronica regularly gives back to the community and shares her talents by participating in benefit concerts and community events. She enjoys exploring the lesser performed masterworks of the repertoire, mainly works of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Veronica is also an active collaborative pianist, having worked with civic choirs, instrumentalists, and chamber ensembles. During her undergraduate studies, Veronica discovered her love for teaching and has become an inquisitive piano pedagogue. She has expanded her knowledge of the instrument and teaching methods through in-depth private study of various approaches to piano playing, most seriously of the Taubman Approach with John Bloomfield of the Golandsky Institute, and participation in masterclasses, workshops, and music festivals. Veronica has taught extensively privately in both NJ and CT, through music studios at The Hartt School Community Division and piano classes to music majors at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford.

 

Veronica’s love of music extends beyond the piano repertoire. She is also a choral enthusiast; she sings with the Northern Jersey Catholic Chorale, a group dedicated to providing chant and polyphony in liturgies for free to parishes that would typically not have the resources. In addition to freelancing as a choral singer, Veronica has sung with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra on three separate occasions as a member of the Montclair State University Chorale, several of which were broadcasted on NPR. As a member of the Montclair State University Singers, she had the opportunity to sing in Carnegie Hall, Rachmaninov Hall in the Moscow Conservatory, and several performances in St. Petersburg, Russia. Additionally, Veronica has received formal training as an organist and is currently serving as director of music at Most Holy Name Catholic Church in Garfield, NJ, for Spanish and English communities.

 

Veronica completed her Master’s degree in Piano Performance/ Pedagogy Emphasis and Graduate Professional Diploma in Piano Performance at The Hartt School at The University of Hartford as a student of Dr. David Westfall. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, where she studied with Dr. Ruth Rendleman. Her other teachers have included John Bloomfield and Dr. Allison Brewster Franzetti. She has also studied organ with Joseph Wozniak, Edward Clark, and Dr. Ezequiel Menendez at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. In her free time, Veronica enjoys hiking, reading, and photography.

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