William Gannon, piano

Meet William

William performs on Show 429.

William Gannon (piano), 17, from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, is a senior in high school attending the University of Minnesota on full scholarship under the State of Minnesota’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program. He studies piano with Dr. Joseph Zins of Crocus Hill Studios in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite his relatively late arrival to the piano at age 11, Will’s intense studies have enabled him to quickly rise to the level of his peers. Will recently received top honors in the 2022 PianoTexas International Piano Festival and Academy Concerto Competition, earning the opportunity to perform with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra at Van Cliburn Concert Hall under the baton of acclaimed conductor Geoffrey Simon. Other recent accomplishments include earning first prize in the 2021-22 MTNA state level piano competition, runner up in the 2021-22 MTNA regional piano competition, finalist and prize winner in both the 2022 Minnesota Orchestra Concerto competition and the 2022 Lacrosse Symphony Orchestra Concerto competition, first prize in the 2021 Thursday Musical high school piano competition, and second prize in the 2021 Schubert Club Scholarship competition. Will has studied and performed in master classes with such luminaries as Stanislov Ioudenitch, Dang Thai Son, Víkingur Ólafsson, Hung-Kuan Chen, Jerome Lowenthal, Tamás Ungár, Boris Slutsky, and Asaf Zohar. As a high school freshman, Will earned the opportunity to perform in front of more than 3,000 music teachers as a featured soloist at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Midwinter Clinic. In addition to his classical piano studies, Will is an accomplished jazz pianist, studying with Mary Louise Knutson. Will performs locally both as a soloist and with the University of Minnesota’s top jazz ensemble (as a high school student!). Will is also an avid chamber musician and collaborative pianist, performing regularly with university-level musicians including his older brother, a classical saxophonist who also studies at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Outside of piano, Will enjoys learning Spanish and making his own music in Logic Pro.