Pianist Sara Davis Buechner is a musician of “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times), a performer of “fascinating and astounding virtuosity” (Philippine Star), renowned for her “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music” (Washington Post). Her performances around the globe are “never less than 100% committed and breathtaking” (Pianoforte Magazine, London).

Japan’s InTune magazine puts it simply. “When it comes to clarity, flawless tempo selection, phrasing and precise control of timbre, Buechner has no superior.”

In her twenties, Ms. Buechner was the winner of a bouquet of prizes at the world’s première piano competitions — Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Leeds, Salzburg, Sydney and Vienna. She won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and was a Bronze Medalist of the 1986 Tschaikowsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.

Her breathtaking range of repertoire includes 125 piano concertos ranging from A (Albeníz) to Z (Zimbalist), which she has performed internationally with the world’s great orchestras. Her numerous recordings have received prominent critical appraisal.

The New York Times anointed her CD of piano music by Rudolf Friml a “revelation,” and devoted its Sunday Arts & Leisure section to her world première recording of Busoni’s version of Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations. Her traversals of American music by George Gershwin, Dana Suesse, Joseph Lamb, Florence Price and Hollywood film composers have all won recording prizes, and she is one of the only prominent concert pianists to perform and record original scores for silent motion pictures.

The broad sweep of Ms. Buechner’s artistry is presented in her autobiographical stage show “Of Pigs and Pianos,” which she wrote, produced and starred in to acclaim from the New York Times and other media in 2022. She continues to appear in the show yearly, with its première at the International Gilmore Festival in 2026.

Ms. Buechner is Piano Chair of the Greenwich House Music School in New York City, Professor of Piano at Temple University in Philadelphia, and an Adjunct Professor at New York University. She has presented lectures and masterclasses worldwide, edited numerous books and scores during her tenure as principal music editor for Dover Publications International, and has made numerous internet pedagogy videos for the ToneBase platform.As the most prominent transgender musician of our time, Sara Davis Buechner appears often as a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ community. Her love of both baseball and Japanese culture is well known, and in addition to appearances at the New York Mets Pride Night festivities, she is an honorary team member of the Hanshin Tigers of Osaka, Japan. In 2022 she was the first non-Japanese ever invited as guest entertainer at the New York Japan Society Annual Dinner, and returned to emcee that event in 2025. She has been a dedicated Yamaha Artist for nearly 40 years.

A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Ms. Buechner makes her home in beautiful Newark, New Jersey.

A two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Maurice Cohn currently serves as Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor with the Chicago-based contemporary ensemble Zafa Collective and is also the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival for the 2022 season.

Recent and upcoming engagements include the Cincinnati Symphony, Utah Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, Symphoria New York, and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of last season also include two world premieres, Mason Bates's Philharmonia Fantastique with the DSO, and Liza Sobel's chamber opera I DID, DID I? with the Zafa Collective. In September 2022, Maurice was a finalist in the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition, where he received the Orchestra Award.

Maurice spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, where he received the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize (2019) and the Aspen Conducting Prize (2021). He recently received an M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, where he worked frequently with the Eastman orchestras and OSSIA New Music Ensemble. He holds a B.M. in cello performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a B.A. from Oberlin College, where he studied history and mathematics. When not conducting or playing cello, you can find him reading mystery novels, playing tennis, or continually searching for the best podcast app.