Pianist Martha Locker leads a vibrant musical life as a soloist, collaborative artist, and teacher. Born in Chicago, Martha began her piano studies at age 4. Her family moved to Pittsburgh in 1984, where she studied with Natalie Phillips through high school. Martha was a Pittsburgh Concert Society winner in 1990.
At age 9, Martha won the Pittsburgh Symphony’s concerto competition and had the opportunity to solo with the orchestra. She has also appeared as soloist with the Knoxville Symphony, Orchestra Nova, the Westmoreland Symphony, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the New York University Orchestra, and the Danbury Music Center Orchestra.
As one of the top collaborative artists in New York, Martha regularly performs in recital with esteemed soloists. Some collaborative highlights have included performances with Sherban Lupu, violinist; Robert Dick, flutist; Keith Underwood, flutist; and Joseph Alessi, trombonist. With Alessi, Martha has toured in the United States and Russia and is a pianist for his seminar. Martha has also been a pianist for NYU Summer Strings, the International Trombone Festival, the Southeastern Trombone Symposium, and the International Double Reed Society Convention.
As a chamber musician and proponent of contemporary music, Martha has performed at numerous New York City venues, including Bargemusic, Symphony Space, and Greenwich House. She has been a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and a participant in the Kyoto International Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution summer piano program.
Martha can be heard in recording on many albums, including The Phenomenon of Threes as part of the NYU Woodwind Faculty Trio, Parts to Play with violinist Moonkyung Lee, and three albums with her uncle, cellist Richard Locker, the most recent of which features the Debussy Cello Sonata and the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata.
Martha has lived in New York City since 1995 and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Peter Serkin, Jacob Lateiner, and Jerome Lowenthal. She also completed an advanced certificate in music education at New York University, where she studied piano with Miyoko Lotto. Martha is an adjunct faculty member at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn and a collaborative pianist at Juilliard and NYU. She lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé, trombonist Tom Hutchinson, and their parrot, Aku.
