Naomi Oliphant

Naomi Oliphant has earned an international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, and Japan. Among solo appearances are engagements with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, the Louisville Orchestra, the Louisville Ballet, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Niagara Symphony. She has been heard on radio and television in North America and Europe and performed her Carnegie Hall debut in March 2010.

Long-time pianist of The McHugh-Oliphant Duo which served as Duo-in-Residence at the University of Louisville, she has performed well over 300 recitals with violinist, Peter McHugh, including three European recital tours and appearances on such illustrious series as The Phillips Collection in Washington and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. Since 1999, she has given over 100 performances with tenor, Daniel Weeks, throughout the United States and on three recital tours in Europe. In 2009, they released to critical acclaim in the U.S.A. and Europe their first CD, Women of Firsts, on the Centaur Records label. They also are heard on the CD, Double Stuff: In Concert New Music. She is an inaugural member of the University of Louisville’s Grawemeyer Players, a chamber ensemble founded in 2010 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition which is presented annually by the University of Louisville.

Dr. Oliphant assumed the role of Associate Dean of the University of Louisville School of Music in 1998 after serving thirteen years as Chair of the Keyboard/Vocal Performance Department. She currently also serves as Keyboard Area Coordinator. The university honored her with its Distinguished Teaching Award in 1994. Since 2003, she has been responsible for coordinating an exchange program between the University of Louisville and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. During her most recent sabbatical, she spent time in Poland researching piano pedagogy and Polish piano literature.

Studying under Eugene Bossart and Charles Fisher, she became the first recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance (Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying) from the University of Michigan. She also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Anton Kuerti and Pierre Souvairan, and was awarded the Master Teacher Certificate from MTNA. Honored in 2003 with the Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Music Teachers Association, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the University of Louisville Business and Professional Women in 1998.

A Past-President of the Greater Louisville Music Teachers Association, she has served as Second Vice-President and Workshop Chair of the Kentucky Music Teachers Association and as Senior Editor of the Kentucky Music Teacher from 2000-2010. From 1988-1995, she was a committee member of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. She has served since 2006 on the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance  Alumni Society Board of Governors.

Active as a lecturer, she has also had articles on piano pedagogy published in Clavier, Keyboard Companion, National Conference on Piano Pedagogy Conference Proceeding Reports, American Suzuki Journal, Ensemble, and Kentucky Music Teacher. She was an invited presenter for the for the 2007 MTNA/CMTA/RCM Collaborative Conference in Toronto, Canada; the 1995 and 1996 MTNA National Conferences; a Seminar Leader for the 2001 and 2003 National Conferences on Keyboard Pedagogy; and has served as a Workshop Clinician for the Frederick Harris Music Company and the Roland Keyboard Technology Seminars. In 1998, she conducted TECHLA, the University of Louisville’s electronic keyboard ensemble at the Music Teachers National Association Conference.

Dr. Oliphant is active as an adjudicator and consultant to area music teachers. In addition to a number of research grants from the University of Louisville, Dr. Oliphant has received support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council, the Southern Regional Educational Board, the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Arts Councils of Ontario and Kentucky, and the Kentucky Business and Professional Women’s Foundation.

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View the YouTube video of Daniel Weeks, tenor and Naomi Oliphant, piano performing Rodolfo's Act I aria from La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini. Encore selection of Trinity Concert Series in New Albany, IN

View the YouTube video of Daniel Weeks, tenor and Naomi Oliphant, piano, performing Faye Burgess' arrangement of the hymn, Jesus Paid It All on the Trinity Concert Series, New Albany, IN. May 20, 2011.

Listen to a recent performance of Naomi Oliphant performing "Auf dem Strom" (On the River) by Schubert with UofL professors Daniel Weeks and Bruce Heim: Excerpt (1.9MB), Complete Version (8.1MB!)

Listen to Three Browning Songs, Op 44 by Amy Beach with Daniel Weeks, tenor and Naomi Oliphant, piano (seen in the photo to the right):

The Year's at the Spring
Ah, Love, but a day!
I send my heart up to thee!

Women of Firsts CriticaClassica Italian Review (In English)

Women of Firsts Review - published in newspaper, "Agire" (2001 June 12th, n.22)

DANIEL WEEKS, tenor and NAOMI OLIPHANT, piano

Since 1999, University of Louisville School of Music faculty members, Daniel Weeks and Naomi Oliphant, have appeared together in almost 100 performances. Their recitals of art song literature, including music of the present day, have taken them throughout the United States and on three European concert tours. In 2007, they were invited to perform and lecture at the Collaborative Conference hosted by the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations/Music Teachers National Association/The Royal Conservatory of Music held in Toronto, Canada. One of their most memorable engagements was performing in 2002 for the Memorial Service for Robert Tools, the world's first recipient of a self-contained artificial heart.

Their first CD together entitled Women of Firsts: A Recording of Art Songs by Lili Boulanger, Amy Beach, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Vítězslava Kaprálová was released on the Centaur Records label in 2009. The CD showcases Art Songs by women who were the first in their respective countries to achieve national and international recognition for their compositions. Their recording of Kaprálová’s song cycle, Navždy, has been aired several times on Dutch Radio 4 programs, Componist van de Week and Avondconcert, in The Netherlands and in Canada on Monday Evening Concert on CKWR FM 98.5 Radio in Waterloo, Ontario. Upcoming engagements include recitals and master classes in Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas along with plans for release of a second CD.

Daniel Weeks, tenor

A member of the applied voice faculty of the University of Louisville since 1998, Daniel Weeks maintains an active recital, concert and operatic career.  In 1999 Mr. Weeks was both a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition.

As a concert artist, Mr. Weeks made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2001 with the Oratorio Society of New York. In addition to further concerts with the OSNY, he recently sang at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has performed with the Houston Symphony; the Dallas Symphony; the Cincinnati Symphony; the Columbus Symphony; the Huntsville Symphony; the Memphis Symphony; the Bach Festival of Winter Park, FL; the Westchester Philharmonic; the Chautauqua Symphony; the Louisville Orchestra; and the Kentucky Symphony, as well as with orchestras in Xalapa and Verz Cruz, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela; Vail, Colorado; and Sioux City, Iowa.

On the operatic stage, Mr. Weeks has performed with the Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Austin Lyric Opera, Mercury Opera, Nevada Opera, and the Opera Theater of Pittsburg.  In 2001, he toured the U.S. in 58 performances of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater.

Naomi Oliphant, piano

Naomi Oliphant has earned an international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, and Japan. Among appearances are engagements with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, the Louisville Orchestra, the Louisville Ballet, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Niagara Symphony. Her Carnegie Hall debut occurred in March 2010. Long-time pianist of The McHugh-Oliphant Duo, she has performed well over 300 recitals with violinist, Peter McHugh, including three European tours and appearances on such illustrious series as The Phillips Collection in Washington and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts. Since 1999, she has given close to 100 performances with tenor, Daniel Weeks, through the U.S.A. and Europe. Their CD, Women of Firsts, was released in 2009 by Centaur Records. She is an inaugural member of the University of Louisville’s Grawemeyer Players.

Formerly Chair of Keyboard/Vocal Performance and now Keyboard Area Coordinator, Dr. Oliphant has also been Associate Dean of Music at the University of Louisville since 1998. She received the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1994 and the 2003 Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Music Teachers Association. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Toronto, a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan, and the Master Teacher Certificate from MTNA. An active lecturer, her articles have been published in major keyboard and pedagogical journals.