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Associate Professor of Keyboard
M.M., P.S., Cleveland Institute of Music
B.A. in Biology/Microbiology, University of Puget Sound
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Christine Padaca Fuoco has been a faculty member in the keyboard department at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music since 2001. She maintains a dynamic and diverse career as a teacher, soloist and collaborative pianist performing in the Western Reserve Concert Series, Dover Center Music Series, Trinity Cathedral Music Series, Aspen International Music Festival Chamber Music Series and at the Chautauqua Institution. She has performed at the University of Miami and Florida Gulf Coast University with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, has concertized throughout Japan as the Nakayama-Padaca Duo and has toured Switzerland as a member of the Incarnation Trio. In 2012, Fuoco performed works by Richard Wagner with world-renowned opera soprano Jane Eaglen. The performance was broadcast on Cleveland’s classical radio station WCLV as part of their chamber music series and included a live interview session with both performers on the art of collaboration. As a frequent performer throughout Northeast Ohio and at Baldwin Wallace, Fuoco enjoys collaborating with many fellow faculty members including her husband as the Fuoco Piano Duo. She has also performed multiple times as a guest soloist and as the Fuoco Duo with the Lorain County Community College orchestra.
Fuoco is a native of the Pacific Northwest and received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Puget Sound as a student in the pre-med program. Though a science major, Fuoco’s love for music continued to grow with the inspiration and encouragement of her teachers Duane Hulbert, James Barbagallo and Tanya Stambuk. She was the grand prize winner of the Concerto Aria Competition and the Olympia Young Artist’s Competition which afforded her performances of both Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with orchestra. Fuoco was also an original member of Trio Enérgico. The trio won grand prizes at the state and regional levels, prizing at the national level in the Music Teachers National Association National Chamber Music Competition in Washington D.C.
Fuoco holds a Master of Music and Professional Studies degree in both piano performance and chamber studies from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied primarily with Paul Schenly. Other piano teachers have also included Kathryn Brown, Jeanine Dowis and coachings with Sergei Babayan. Her extensive chamber music studies have been with William Preucil, Donald Weilerstein, Peter Salaff, Anne Epperson and Rita Sloan. Fuoco has had the privilege of performing in masterclasses with renowned pianists Warren Jones, Martin Katz and Janina Fialkowska in addition to coachings with Elly Ameling, Paul Kantor, Richard Weiss, and Joseph Silverstein. Upon graduating from CIM, Fuoco was awarded the prestigious Arthur Loesser Award for Excellence in both piano performance and academic achievement.
As a faculty member at the Conservatory, Fuoco teaches keyboard musicianship courses and applied secondary piano. She has also taught chamber music, piano pedagogy and sight reading. A strong proponent of young musicians, Fuoco regularly participates in the BW Conservatory Summer Institute (CSI) programs, was the first artistic director of the Conservatory’s annual summer piano camps and is a collaborative pianist for the Musical Theater Overtures program. She frequently serves as an adjudicator for the National Federation of Music Clubs and is a member of the Cleveland Fortnightly Musical Club where many of her preparatory students have taken part in music festivals and competitions.
