Michelle Cann
Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies
Piano
Performance
Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, Michelle Cann is one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation.
Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann has been lauded as “exquisite” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone. Recent engagements include appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. She is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and she served as the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards.
In August 2026, Cann performed the world premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Colorado Music Festival and conductor Peter Oundjian. Highlights of Cann’s 2026-27 season include performances of the Coleman Concerto with the Detroit Symphony, as well as performances of Gershwin Concerto in F with the Charlotte Symphony, Brahms Concerto No. 1 with Phoenix Symphony, and Florence Price Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre. Her recital appearances include Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in collaboration with the Dover Quartet, as well as solo recitals presented by Northeastern Illinois University’s Jewel Box Series and University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a Grammy Award in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack. Cann’s acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023.
Cann holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies and also serves on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.