Tony Caramia

Tony Caramia is Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music, where he is Director of Piano Pedagogy Studies and Coordinator of the Class Piano Program. Having studied piano with Claudette Sorel and composition with Walter S. Hartley, Mr. Caramia earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia. From 1975 to 1990 he taught at the University of Illinois. He has been active as a classical pianist, presenting numerous solo and ensemble programs. As a jazz pianist he has performed with Urbie Green, Clark Terry, Dick Johnson, Terry Gibbs and with noted jazz pianists Bill Dobbins and Marian McPartland. As a ragtime pianist he has been a featured soloist at the West Coast Ragtime Fest in Fresno, CA; the Lake Superior Ragtime Bash in Superior, WI; the International Ragtime Festival in Alexandria Bay, NY; the Evergreen (CO) Ragtime Bash; and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO, where he was also the 1996 Artist-in-Residence. He was a 1999 Visiting Artist for the Quad Cities Arts Council.

Mr. Caramia was featured in the July 2000 issue of The American Rag magazine. He regularly reviews for American Music Teacher Magazine and has contributed to the Question and Answer Column for Clavier Magazine. He is a Keyboard Clinician and Consultant for the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation and has conducted workshops in jazz piano for teachers at MTNA State and National Conventions; the First International Workshop of New Music for Children in Berlin; the National Piano Teachers Institute, and the International Workshops in Australia, Belgium, Hawaii, Italy, Austria, France, Scotland and Norway. He has lectured and performed at the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference in London, the first Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference in Adelaide, and the Institute of Registered Music Teachers National Conference in New Zealand. He is a co-author of the MTNA/IAJE Jazz Studies Guide.

As a composer he has been commissioned by the Hattiesburg (MS) Piano Teachers League Composers Festival and the Oklahoma Music Teachers State Convention. He served as National Program Coordinator for the Columbia Pictures Publications/Belwin Student Composition Contest for MTNA from 1991 to 1995.

Mr. Caramia has four recordings: Zebra Stripes, highlighting syncopated solo piano music of European and women composers; Nimble Fingered Gentleman, featuring music of Billy Mayerl; Brass Knuckles, a recital of contemporary ragtime; and a solo jazz piano release called Tony Caramia, Live!