PHILLIP KAWIN

1956 - 2021

KAWIN--Phillip N. (1956-2021). Manhattan School of Music is deeply saddened by the passing of alumnus, long-time faculty member, and accomplished pianist Phillip Kawin. Phillip has been a highly regarded member of the MSM College faculty since 1989 and of the Precollege faculty since 1986. He served as a faculty representative for the Board of Trustees from 2008-2011 and was currently Chair of the Faculty Council, a position he held consecutively for 16 years. In 2018, MSM honored Phillip with the President's Medal for Distinguished Service. Phillip studied piano with Jules Gentil in Paris, in New York City with Howard Aibel, and later with Dora Zaslavsky at Manhattan School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree from MSM in 1982 and a Master of Music in 1985. He quickly established himself as a much sought-after artist teacher. Phillip's students have won honors in several competitions, including Young Concert Artists, Martha Argerich International, Jacob Flier International, Thelonious Monk International, World Piano, and Kosciuszko, among others. Phillip was in constant demand at premier international conferences and festivals for his lectures and master classes. Most recently, Phillip gave master classes at the DMZ and the Busan festivals in South Korea; the Harvard Club in New York; and at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, through the Symposium and Practicum in Synchronous Distance Learning. For more than 20 years he has been in residence at the PianoSummer at New Paltz (NY) International Institute/Festival and has taught regularly at the Summit (NY) Music Festival, the International Academy of Music in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana (Italy), the Euro Music Festival and Academy, and the Beijing International Music Festival & Academy (China). He has been an adjudicator for such competitions as the Beethoven International Piano Competition Vienna, Bosendorfer, USASU International Piano Competition, Sydney International, Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, and the Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians. His teaching is featured on five DVDs, recorded live at the World Piano Pedagogy Conferences. A Steinway Artist, Phillip received critical praise for his performances all over the globe; for his several CDs on the Master Performers Distinguished Artists Label; and for a recent, acclaimed DVD release of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Russian National Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz conducting. We send profound condolences to his long-term partner HaeSun Paik, his current students, and his hundreds of former students the world over, whose lives he has enriched. His legacy will leave a deep and lasting impact on Manhattan School of Music and on all those who have known him. James Gandre, President Joyce Griggs, Provost