Tinashe McGowan, piano

Meet Tinashe

Tinashe performs on Show 460.

Tinashe McGowan (piano), 17, from Dallas, Texas, is a senior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. His passion for the piano began at the age of three, encouraged by his parents and his late grandfather, Otis J. Lloyd. By age four, he was studying piano formally under the guidance of Maestro John Mark Tatum.

Tinashe regularly performs and competes around the Dallas metroplex and nationally. He plays in the jazz combo and big band at his school. He won first and second place in his division at the Tourgee DeBose National Piano Competition in 2014 and 2015, respectively, held annually at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. In the fall of 2014, while a student at T. L. Marsalis Elementary School, he was featured and interviewed by Fox 4 News for his participation in The Van Cliburn Awakening Program, and he also won first place in the African American Museum’s young classical artist competition in 2024. His talent gained international attention when a video of him playing the piano went viral, amassing over 3 million views, 95,000 likes, and more than 200,000 shares.

Other awards and recognitions Tinashe has received include First Place in the North Texas Division Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt, First Place in the Local Piano Competition Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt, and First Place in UIL Dallas Piano Performance in his division.

Tinashe has had the opportunity to study advanced piano techniques at the renowned Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan. He regularly performs at church and school events across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In addition to his piano achievements, Tinashe enjoys reading, listening to jazz, and playing music with friends. His parents, Eran McGowan and Zenaida Simpson, are his greatest supporters.