Head of Department (Keyboard Studies)

Dr Gabriela Mayer is currently the Head of the Department of Keyboard Studies at the MTU Cork School of Music. Her early training was in her native Romania, as well as Italy and later the USA, where she won numerous awards and scholarships. As a recipient of a Fulbright Graduate Fellowship to Germany in 1997, Dr. Mayer studied piano performance at the Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler' in Berlin. She also completed a Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Maryland in the USA, graduating with the highest honours. In America, she taught at the American University in Washington DC. Since moving to Ireland, she has engaged in teaching as well as performing both solo and chamber music recitals. She is currently  involved in activities of the  Association of European Conservatoires (AEC) and European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) through participation in seminars, giving presentations at conferences on pedagogical and performance topics and as an international  representative of the AEC on institutional review panels. She has been involved with the Innovative Conservatoire Seminars (ICON) from the early stages.

Her interest in effective practice and performance preparation has led to being part of the ‘Potential to Performance’ project, a collaboration with collegues from Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia. A related website is currently under development.

Her students have won prizes and awards in piano performance and chamber music competitions and many of the MA graduates she taught have secured professional careers and continue to be active as performers.

As a performer, she continues to be actively involved in concerts and regulartly collaborates in chamber music projects with colleagues from the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the MTU Cork School of Music. In addtion, she has given concerts and masterclasses as part of the Erasmus programme at European partner institutions.