About the Musicians

Eric Stumacher, founder, pianist, and director of the Sonad Peace Project and the Keene Chamber Orchestra, has performed concerti, solo recitals, and chamber music concerts worldwide to critical acclaim for over forty years. Mr. Stumacher’s solo playing has been called “extraordinarily effective” by the New York Times.

For thirty-five years, Mr. Stumacher served as founder, pianist, and executive and artistic director of the Apple Hill Chamber Players, Apple Hill, and the Apple Hill Playing for Peace Project, before resigning in October, 2007 to establish the Sonad Peace Project.

Mr. Stumacher studied with Eleanor Sokoloff, Rosina Lhevinne, and Beveridge Webster, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and The Juilliard School.

His latest CD, Piano Meditations, released on the Sonad Records label, was praised in the November/December 2012 issue of Fanfare Magazine:

“Eric Stumacher does indeed know how to play the piano! In each of the meditative works heard in this recital, he evidences an understanding of the internal construction of the piece. His touch is sensitive, his phrases well shaped, and the loving care he places on each piece is as though it is something to be savored, such as a delicate morsel or a fine wine….If you’re looking for a CD to help you unwind after a long, hard day, this may be just what the doctor ordered. I will be looking forward to hearing this pianist in the coming recordings of the complete Beethoven Concerti and Pictures at a Exhibition. I heartily recommend this CD to pianophiles as a good initiation to the artistry of Eric Stumacher.”

Mr. Stumacher resides in Nelson, NH with his wife, Kathy, a violist, administrator, and retired day care professional, and they have three astonishing children and six amazing grandchildren.

We welcome Mr. Stumacher to his first performance on the Historical Piano Concerts series.