Pianist Colette Valentine joined the faculty of the newly created Collaborative Piano Department at the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music in 2008 and assumed leadership of the program in 2017. Critically hailed for her “clean, sparkling technique” (Salt Lake Tribune) and for her “consummate skill and musicianship” (Classical New Jersey), she has performed collaboratively in such venues as New York City’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Merkin Concert Hall; at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC, and internationally in Paris, Zurich, Florence, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and Hong Kong. As pianist of Ecco Trio, praised by the Washington Post for capturing “the intimacy of chamber music at its best,” she toured the United States and Japan. Valentine has collaborated in chamber concerts with St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the New York Philharmonic Winds, the Washington Chamber Society, and the Grand Teton Music Festival Players, among others, and has served as assisting pianist for numerous national and international events, including the Washington International Competition for Strings, the Kapell International Piano Competition, the National Flute Association Annual Convention, and the Menuhin International Competition for Violin. During her many years in New York City, she was a frequent collaborator in the Concert Artists Guild and Young Concert Artists competitions and was an adjunct faculty member at Long Island University (CW Post) and New Jersey City University. She teaches and performs at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp each August, and has recorded for the Naxos, Albany, fontec, Antara, Well-Tempered, and CRI labels. Valentine earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Maryland and completed her doctorate at Stony Brook University.
