Geoffrey Duce

Biography

Geoffrey Duce is Coordinator of the Piano Area at Illinois State University. His pianism was described by Fanfare as “revelatory and a joy to listen to,” possessing “ferocious intellect as well as technique.” He has performed in Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Wigmore Hall, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Edinburgh’s Queens Hall, and many other venues across North America and Europe, as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 2022, he gave a solo recital debut at Ravinia.

As a concerto soloist, his appearances have included the Sinfonie Orchester Berlin in Germany, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Olympia Symphony Orchestra, and New York Sinfonietta in the USA, and the Scottish Sinfonia, Edinburgh Philharmonic, and Dundee Symphony Orchestra in the UK. During the 2018-19 season, he was the first Artist in Residence with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, with which he performed concertos by Duke Ellington and Edward MacDowell, among others.

His solo CD of Fantasies and Rhapsodies by CPE Bach, Schubert, John McCabe, and Dohnanyi was released in 2023 on Albany Records. He has appeared at contemporary music festivals, including a solo recital as the opening concert of the Dialogues Experimental Music Festival in Edinburgh, and numerous performances of solo and chamber works at the RedNote New Music Festival in Illinois, for example by Steven Stucky, Eric Moe, Steven Hartke, and George Tsontakis.

A winner of the Making Music Award from Britain’s National Federation of Music Societies and the Prix de Piano at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, Geoffrey Duce is also a passionate chamber musician and accompanist, his appearances including performing at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, recording for BBC Radio 3, and previous album releases with partners including double bassist Nicholas Bayley, the disk described by MusicWeb International as “expertly played … a truly satisfying chamber collaboration” and named their Recording of the Month, and with tenor Justin Vickers, Fanfare commenting “It is difficult to imagine a finer performance than this.”

Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, he initially studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University before receiving a DAAD scholarship to attend the Universität der Künste Berlin, and earned his doctorate at Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Sheila Desson, Renna Kellaway, Klaus Hellwig, Ferenc Rados, Solomon Mikowsky, Nina Svetlanova, and Phillip Kawin.

He has previously served on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music, the State University of New York (Westchester Community College), and Indiana University South Bend. He has given masterclasses for the Orquesta Filarmónica in Bogotá, Colombia, and at such institutions as the University of Hawaii, the City of Edinburgh Music School, St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, and Seattle’s Academy of Music Northwest, as well as at colleges in Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin, and throughout Illinois.

He served as a resident international visiting faculty member at the University of Taipei, has taught at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan, was a faculty member of the inaugural Global Immersion Program at SouthWest University in Chongqing, China, and was a juror at the American Classical Pianist International Competition in Hangzhou and the Asia Youth Piano Festival, based in Shanghai. He has also taught at the Chicago Chamber Music Festival and the Fischoff Chamber Music Summer Intensive.