Steinway artist Stephen Swedish visited Carthage in February 2010 to give a Piano Masterclass. Carthage students performed piano masterworks from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 20 in A. F. Siebert Chapel. The public was invited to attend.

American pianist Stephen Swedish has established an international reputation as a soloist and is one of the great chamber music pianists and collaborators on the stage today. He has partnered in recital with some of the greatest artists in the world including violinists Henryk Szeryng, Josef Gingold and Eugene Fodor; violist William Primrose; and cellists Janos Starker, Raphael Wallfisch and Wolfgang Laufer, among many others.

He received his Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Music degrees from the School of Music at Indiana University, where his major teacher and mentor was Menahem Pressler, pianist of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio. While only in his second year at Indiana, he was invited by cellist Janos Starker to be his regular recital partner and, together they toured North America and Europe.

Mr. Swedish has taught on the artist-faculties of the Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music, the University of Maryland School of Music, and Texas Christian University. In 1996, Mr. Swedish was appointed an Artistic Ambassador by the U.S. State Department. In that capacity he has traveled to such faraway places as Cyprus, Malta, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazahkstan, the Republic of Georgia and Chile.