Sara Davis Buechner (born 1959) is an American

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to ...

and educator currently based in Newark, New Jersey.

Career

Buechner was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

in 1959. She studied music with Veronika Wolf Cohen, Reynaldo Reyes, and Mieczyslaw Münz, before graduating high school at

Friends School of Baltimore Friends School of Baltimore is a private Quaker school in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. History It is the oldest private school in Baltimore, founded in 1784 by members of the Religious ...

in 1976. She attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

as a pupil of Czech pianist Rudolf Firkusny and later worked with both

Byron Janis Byron Janis (né Yanks; March 24, 1928 – March 14, 2024) was an American classical pianist. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series ''Great Pianists of the 20th Century''. ...

and

Paul Badura-Skoda Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist. Career A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed w ...

. In her twenties, she won major prizes at the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition (1983), the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, is an international piano competition which takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It ...

(1984), the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition (bronze medal 1986), and the

Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition The Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is the second largest piano competition in the United States. The competition has three age categories: the International Artists Competition for pianists ag ...

(1984, gold medal). Her 1984 debut at the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the You ...

in New York City received a glowing review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and she has had an active performance career since that time. Buechner holds the German Diez Memorial Piano Chair of the Greenwich House Music School in New York City. She has been a professor of piano at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

since 2016, and previously served on the faculties of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She was also an honorary Professor of the University of Shanghai from 2013 to 2016. She has edited books and music scores for

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...

, where she was chief music editor from 2009 to 2012. Buechner has given talks and written about her experience as a role model for the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

community.Alexander Varty,
Beyond the standards
, ''Georgia Straight'', August 2, 2007. Buechner wrote about her life experiences in a 2013 article in ''The New York Times''. Buechner has performed with numerous major orchestras throughout North and South America, Asia, and Europe, with an active repertoire of more than 100 concerti, and has given master classes on four continents. Buechner is a Yamaha Artist, and has made many recordings for the

Disklavier Disklavier is a brand of reproducing pianos manufactured by Yamaha Corporation. The first Disklavier was introduced in the United States in 1987. The typical Disklavier is a real acoustic piano outfitted with electronic sensors for recording and ...

player system.

Discography

* ''Mujeres Españolas – Piano Works of Joaquin Turina'' (1992) * ''The American Flute'' (1993) (with flutist Robert Stallman) * ''Henry Martin: Preludes and Fugues (1990–92)'' (1994) * ''Mozart: Piano Sonatas'' (1995) * ''The Paradine Case – Hollywood Piano Concertos'' (1995) * ''Bach-Busoni "Goldberg" Variations'' (1997) * ''Miklos Rozsa: Complete Works for Solo Piano'' (1999) * ''Stephen Foster: Complete Piano Works'' (2002) * ''Rudolf Friml: Piano Music'' (2003) * ''Bygone Days – Music for Violin and Piano by Rudolf Friml'' (2006) (with violinist Stephanie Chase) * ''George Gershwin – Original Works and Transcriptions for Solo Piano'' (2005) * ''Nineteen Rags of Joseph Lamb'' * ''Variations and Other Works of Brahms and Dvorak'' * ''Works of Busoni and Stravinsky'' * ''Gershwin: Second Rhapsody/Addinsell: "Warsaw" Concerto'' * ''Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 23''

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buechner, Sara Davis 1959 births Living people LGBTQ people from Maryland Manhattan School of Music alumni Manhattan School of Music faculty Musicians from Baltimore Transgender women musicians Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition Prize-winners of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition Academic staff of the University of British Columbia American expatriate academics in Canada 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists American women music educators 21st-century American women pianists Transgender academics American women academics American transgender musicians American transgender women