Curtis Baum

Curtis Baum is a pianist, piano technician and music lover currently residing in Macomb, Illinois.  He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles and musicians, including vocal recitalists, jazz bands, choirs, and chamber players.  In the last year he has been performing frequently with cellist Tomás Estigarribia and tenor Dr. Alfonzo Cooper Jr.  In 2022 Curtis completed his master’s degree in Piano Performance at Western Illinois University, studying piano with Dr. Jeffrey Brown and working as a graduate assistant in collaborative piano.  Curtis earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, where his teachers were Dr. Richard Lange and Dr. Paul Wirth.  Some of his additional mentors in the Twin Cities include renowned vocal pedagogue Carol Eikum and pianists Dr. Daniel Rieppel and Dr. Tina Park.  Curtis was selected as a winner of the 2021 WIU Concerto-Aria competition and performed the opening movement of Rachmaninoff’s first piano concerto. He was also selected to perform the first movement of Robert Schumann’s piano concerto in A minor as the winner of the 2016 UNWSP Concerto-Aria competition.  Curtis was a finalist in the Schubert Club’s 2019 Bruce P. Carlson Scholarship Competition and received first prizes from the Rochester (MN) Music Guild’s Young Artist Competition and the Rochester Area Keyboard Club.  He is passionate about literature, cooking, and the music of Brahms, Shostakovich, and Nikolai Kapustin.