hadley
Pianist Hadley McCarroll has been hailed for her “…lively and exhilarating…” pianism (San Francisco Classical Voice). Born in Washington D.C., she received her formative training at the Levine School of Music and the Washington Conservatory of Music, where she was a scholarship student in the piano and opera workshop departments. Later studies were with Santiago Rodriguez. While still in high school, she had the opportunity to accompany famed Bolshoi Opera mezzo-soprano Renata Babak in one of her last public appearances, at which time critic Joseph McClellan of the Washington Post noted in his review of the concert: “…her accompanying was noticeable for its high level at her age…a skill which few pianists master even later in life.” She earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, making her orchestral debut under the baton of the renowned American composer and conductor Gunther Schuller. She has also worked with Vladimir Viardo, Isaac Stern, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, and Marlena Malas. She coaches chamber music with Richard Goode and cellist Mike Reynolds of the Muir Quartet.
A well-known performer throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. McCarroll has worked throughout the United States and internationally as a solo and collaborative pianist. She has served on the music staff of the Royal Danish Opera, the Utah Festival Opera, and also enjoys collaborations with many local San Francisco groups-Ms. McCarroll has worked with nearly every Bay Area opera company-including San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, Festival Opera, and West Bay Opera. She has accompanied international artists Jane Eaglen, Nucia Focile, and Linda Watson. Under the baton of Kent Nagano she served as musical preparer for West Coast premiere concert performances by Elliott Carter, Phillip Manoury and Unsuk Chin. Ms. McCarroll has presented chamber music masterclasses and concerts at the Northwestern University School of Music, the Nueva School, and has taught musicianship and theory classes for the San Francisco Choral Society. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Community Music Center, and also maintains a busy private studio. An active chamber musician, she is the founding pianist of The Mirage Ensemble, a soprano-clarinet-piano trio, and performs frequently with sfSoundGroup, a local composer/improviser collective specializing in music of the avante-garde, with a focus on American Experimentalism. In 2003 she was awarded a major grant from the City of Oakland to perform concertos for piano and chamber wind ensemble.
In the summer of 2011, she made her debut on the Napa Festival del Sole, where she accompanied Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze. This fall she joined the music staff of San Francisco Opera, serving as ballet pianist. In October she will perform piano and chamber music works on SonicHarvest. In December she will serve as pianist in performances of the Nutcracker with Mark Foehringer Dance Project San Francisco.