Tomasz Robak
Assistant Professor of the Practice in Music
Education
- D.M.A., M.M. Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
- B.M., B.A. Rice University
Areas of Expertise
- Vocal, Instrumental, and Choral Accompaniment
- Piano and Organ Performance
Background
I am a pianist, organist, chamber musician, vocal coach, and teacher. I have always been fascinated by the numerous possibilities musicians have for life-long learning and collaboration.
I have performed: in numerous concerts in the U.S. and in Europe (in Austin, Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, Kraków, Memphis, Houston, Salzburg, Sarasota, Washington D.C., etc.); as a soloist with the New North Shore Chamber Orchestra, the Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Manassas Symphony Orchestra, the Midwest Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Parma Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest Symphony Orchestra, the White Mountain Symphony Orchestra and the Los Alamos Community Winds; together with members of the Charlotte and Memphis symphonies, the Sinfonietta Cracovia, and the Luna Nova Ensemble in Memphis, etc.
As an undergraduate, I studied both piano and philosophy at Rice University. I completed my doctorate in piano performance at the Peabody Conservatory. In addition, I have worked as a church musician for the great majority of my professional life and hold the Associate certification from the American Guild of Organists.
In 2018, I received a Fulbright grant to Poland which allowed me to spend the 2018-19 season at the Szymanowski Academy in Katowice studying the piano music of Polish composers such as Henryk Górecki and Wojciech Kilar. In 2021, I was one of four pianists selected for the NATS Intern program where I worked on my collaborative skills with Craig Terry and Valerie Trujillo.
During the course of my musical training, I was fortunate to have studied with a host of wonderful artist-teachers including Robert Roux, Benjamin Pasternack, Alexander Shtarkman, Anna Górecka, Andrzej Jasiński, Jeremy Filsell, and Donald Sutherland.