Hailing from California, Anton Achondoa studied with Hans Boepple at Santa Clara University here graduated in 2013 with a B.A. in Music. He grew up in Sunnyvale, exposed to so much music as both his parents were enthusiastic listeners. In his youth, he studied piano with Nina Kouchnir who inspired him to eventually pursue a career in music.

In the last several years, Anton has performed with the Santa Clara University Orchestra, The Santa Clara University Choir, and has played piano for events throughout the Silicon Valley. In 2016, he started his M.M. in Keyboard Studies at San Jose State University, working with Frank Lévy. During this time, he served as a pianist for Catholic parishes in the Diocese of San Jose and managed his own private piano studio. Anton relocated to Canada in 2018 to pursue his DMus at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Jacques Després. His research is centered on 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.

Anton’s recent performances at the UofA include a lecture recital, “Beyond Urtexts,” discussing the topic of interpreting works by Liszt, a solo recital featuring pieces by Mozart, Liszt, Prokofiev, Debussy, and Chopin as well as a chamber recital with works by Rachmaninoff and Brahms. He was also 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 which unfortunately could not take place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.