Aaron Petit (26) is an American pianist and composer in Portland, Oregon. In 2020, he completed his undergraduate degree in keyboard (piano) performance Magna Cum Laude at the University of Miami: Frost School of Music under the guidance of Santiago Rodriguez and Naoko Takao. Since early 2023, he has continued serious study with concert pianist Mark Salman in Seattle, Washington after a 2 year performance hiatus due to Covid-19 and starting a family.

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    Between 2014 and 2019, Aaron won 9 piano competitions in the US including the Gershwin International Music Competition in NYC, the Seattle Philharmonic Don Bushell Concerto Competition (runner-up), Metro Arts Van Buren Concerto Competition, and the Portland Young Pianists Festival Competition.

 

    He has performed with orchestras in Seattle, Portland, Salem, Renton, and Puyallup since making his debut at age 15 with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In the 2016-17 season, he performed Chopin's e minor Piano Concerto with musicians of the Oregon Symphony and Oregon Ballet Theater Orchestras with Conductor Niel DePonte.

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    Aaron has enjoyed a diverse education by attending Interlochen's Piano Institute, The Colburn Piano Seminar, Cazadero Music camp, and Young Musicians and Artists camp during the summers of his teenage years. He also studied at the Seattle Conservatory of Music and the Colburn School: Young Artists Academy for pre college. His private teachers have included Mark Salman, Mark Westcott, Chris Engebretson, and Peter Brownlee.

 

    An avid teacher himself, Aaron has coached over 100 students since 2011. His long term ambitions are to express his love for the great musical

arts through teaching, performing, and composing for the world-wide stage.