Bio

Anton Achondoa studied piano with Hans Boepple at Santa Clara University and graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Raised in Sunnyvale, California, he grew up exposed to a lot of music as both his parents were enthusiastic listeners. In his youth, he studied piano with Nina Kouchnir who inspired him to eventually pursue music as a career.

In the last several years Anton has participated in performances with the Santa Clara University Orchestra, The Santa Clara University Choir, as well as performed solo piano in various events throughout the Silicon Valley Bay Area. After taking three years off from school to work as a church musician and piano teacher, he pursued a Masters in Keyboard Studies at San Jose State University, working with Frank Lévy. During this time he continued to play for Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of San Jose, managed his own private piano studio, and played chamber music with local colleagues. In 2018, Anton decided to continue his studies in music and moved to Canada to pursue his doctorate at the University of Alberta in the city of Edmonton. He currently works under the supervision of Dr. Jacques Després. His area of research is concerned with the study of early piano recordings and how they represent a style of playing characterized by more flexible and personal readings of musical scores. Anton hopes that stimulating a new appreciation for these idiosyncratic historical recordings by the likes of Rachmaninoff, Cortot, Hofmann, et al. can breathe new life into modern piano interpretation which, in his view, tends to be constrained and homogenized by a globally prevalent academic viewpoint. He recently performed his first doctoral recital this past November, performing works by Mozart, Liszt, Prokofiev, Debussy, and Chopin. Anton was one of the 2020 recipients of the Strauss Foundation Scholarship and his project was to study with Jacques Rouvier at the Salzburg Mozarteum Summer Program. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, these plans are currently delayed.