Amber Scherer has been honored by competitions at the national and even international scale, including the Music Teachers National Association Competition, the Sejong Cultural Society National Music Competition and the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition.
Starting in 2010—the year of her first-place wins in the Society of American Musicians Competition, the Illinois State Music Teachers’ Association (ISMTA) Duet Competition, and the Midwest Young Artists National Concerto Competition—pianist Amber Scherer began competing seriously. Since then, she has been honored by competitions at the national and even international scale, including the Music Teachers National Association Competition, the Sejong Cultural Society National Music Competition—at which she won a special award for her interpretation of a Korean work—and the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition.
One of Amber’s greatest passions is spreading broader appreciation for classical music. As a volunteer member of Midwest Young Artists’ Chamber Orchestra, Amber performed Peter and the Wolf for under-funded elementary schools in 2010. Two years later, she became a co-founder, co-chair, and regular performer in a benefit-concert series for the LEARN Charter School Network. She and her peers have since donated over $16,000, establishing three music programs and a Suzuki Strings Program for underprivileged children there. On a more local scale, Amber has participated in a promotional event for classical music at New Trier High School, performs at senior homes in the Chicago area, and regularly teaches local children.
Aside from her musical experiences with non-musicians, Amber is an eager chamber musician. She spent a number of years at Midwest Young Artists, studying in a piano trio, two string quartets (violin), and the Concert Orchestra (violin). Amber also played at the Music Institute of Chicago in their Concert Symphony (violin), a piano quartet, and a piano duo. Lastly, Amber was a principal keyboard player of the New Trier High School chamber orchestra, for which she learned to play the organ and harpsichord.
Amber Scherer has appeared as a soloist with the Harper and Oistrach Symphony Orchestras and performed at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall, Harris Theater, Bennett-Gordon Hall (Ravinia), Pick-Staiger Hall (Northwestern University), Lutkin Hall (Northwestern University), Auer Hall (Indiana University), the Lied Center for the Arts (Kansas University), the University of South Carolina’s Recital Hall, and the National Pastime Theater. She especially loves performing at summer music festivals, such as the International Institute for Young Musicians, Southeastern Piano Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the International Beethoven Project Festival.
Program:
Chopin: Ballade No. 3, Op. 47
Chopin: Etude Op. 25, No. 4
Beethoven: Sonata Op 10, No. 3