Praised by critics as a “confident, skilled performer”, Brianna Jaeger is called a “magnetizing force” at the keyboard, with performances “sketching through sound the paradoxical beauty of heartache and the joys of human existence.” She has appeared across the globe as a soloist and collaborator, featuring performances at Carnegie Hall – Stern Auditorium, The Kaufman Music Center, Tribute Communities Recital Hall of Toronto, Schlosskirche Cathedral, Steinway Piano Gallery, and Piccolo Spoleto Festival. She is presently an active recitalist, composer, and educator located near Washington, D.C.
At the age of 12, Brianna won her first award, associated with PBS, shortly thereafter, receiving an award in the S.C. Concerto Competition. Since then, she has continued to garner international recognition for her performances. Her performances have been heard live and virtually throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In addition to her recital appearances, Brianna was recently awarded first place at the Rocky Mountain International Piano Competition in Canada. Earlier in 2022, she received 2nd place at the
semifinal round of the 2022 International Grand Prix Music Competition,
and as a medalist and finalist in various competitions in
Austria, Italy, and the United States.
Brianna is especially interested in avant-garde music and experimental art. She frequently performs works by modern composers, such as Benjamin Broening, Messiaen, Emma Lou Diemer, Ligeti, and Charity Morrison. As a member of EDGE Ensemble, Brianna performed with Alarm Will Sound on their production of John Luther Adam’s ‘Ten Thousand Birds’. Most recently, she premiered Dr. Richard Pressley’s 'Cantus Hommage a Messiaen.'
at CAMP Festival 2022.
In addition to her keyboard career, Brianna is an avid composer and arranger. In 2020, she was commissioned by Shenandoah University to arrange a piano solo inspired by the folk song ‘O Shenandoah’, which was premiered for the Class of 2020. In 2021, she was commissioned to write a collaborative work, titled, 'Mountaintop for Mezzo Soprano, Piano, and Dance', which premiered in Virginia. As the graduate assistant for religion during her master's program, she was commissioned to compose various vocal and instrumental settings to be performed at religious services. Her musical influences are inspired
by the music of Messiaen, Arvo Pärt, Kaija Saariaho,
plainchant, and traditional Jewish music.
Brianna obtained her M.M. from Shenandoah Conservatory, where she studied under Ieva Jokubaviciute and Dr. Alexander Bernstein. She received her B.A. in piano from Charleston Southern University, where she studied piano under Mr. Eugene Koester and Dr. Brad Parker. In high school, she received certification in musical studies through The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). Other influential educators in her career have included Dr. Richard Pressley, Mark Sterbank, Dr. Nicholas V. Holland, III. Graeme Burgan, and Olivia Cresswell.
In academia, her research topics include her graduate theses on Beethovenian elements in Schubert, transcribing 13th century masses into modern notation, and philosophical influences on the development of musical form.
At present, her studies focus heavily on WWII and Holocaust musicology.
Recently, she presented a lecture recital for StageFree DC, premiering reconstructed music written during the Holocaust, a project for which she was a
Fulbright Scholar Semifinalist in Jerusalem, Israel. Brianna is a member
of Pi Kappa Lambda and Alpha Chi.
Brianna is currently on faculty at Charleston Southern University and The Catoctin School of Music, where she teaches keyboard instruments, theory/composition, and general music. When she is not practicing,
you can find her in a café with a book, painting, or
playing with her three mischievous parrots.
