Whether performing on the piano, teaching, or honing his penchant for concert curation, Andrew Barnwell is almost always working at one keyboard or another.
As a performer, Andrew finds chamber music especially invigorating and is a founding member of Trio Gaia. Recent chamber music performances have brought Andrew to chamber music series, schools, and venues across the East Coast and to the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival in Winnipeg, Canada. As a soloist, Andrew has appeared with the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra and has presented solo recitals at NEC and in the community through NEC’s Community Performances and Partnerships initiative.
Early in his career, Andrew developed a love for logistics and event planning that has led him to seek opportunities to plan, organize, and execute. As a 2017 NEC 150 Fellow, he programmed a series showcasing ten eclectic ensembles as part of NEC’s Open Studios celebration. As an NEC Nova Fellow, Andrew produced four mainstage events that reached over 2,000 people, including “In Good (ac)Company,” a 5-day virtual concert series in response to the pandemic that presented 13 randomly paired duos of NEC students and alumni. Recently, Andrew stepped into the role of Development Manager for Boston Opera Collaborative, a company invested in intimate productions that bring audiences face-to-face with the power of the human voice.
Born in Massachusetts, he began his piano studies with Heather Rogers Riley before relocating with his family to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied with Søren Pedersen. Andrew attended high school in Seattle, Washington, and was first a student of Mark Salman before joining the studio of Dainius Vaicekonis, and later, renowned pedagogue Robin McCabe. Andrew has earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Victor Rosenbaum and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein.
When devoid of to-dos, Andrew can usually be found searching street-by-street for the best bakeries and consignment stores—recommendations are gladly accepted.