Isabel Keleti

Isabel Keleti is an award-winning NYC-based pianist. Hailing from Kansas, she studied for many years with Dr. Jack Winerock at the KU School of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music, before moving to New York City to earn her Master of Music at Mannes School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Vladimir Valjarević. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at Stony Brook University under Christina Dahl and Gilbert Kalish.

Deeply committed to Czech music, Isabel received a Fulbright award from the U.S. Department of State to study with Professor Jan Jiraský at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. In recognition of her artistic work, she won the 2024 Gold Crystal Heart Award from the Czech Center New York for her significant contributions to Czech culture in New York City and was selected as a 2025 finalist for the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Isabel has performed at prestigious venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Oculus at the World Trade Center, Bohemian National Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Opera America, International House in NYC, Teatro Pavone in Perugia, Xi’an Concert Hall, RUC Concert Hall in Beijing, and the Lied Center in Kansas. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Alicante Symphony Orchestra of Spain, the Conero Festival Orchestra, the Heritage Philharmonic Orchestra of Missouri, and the Blue Valley North Symphonic Orchestra in Kansas. Her performances have been featured on Kansas Public Radio and Czech Television.

In 2019, Isabel won the ROXE MTSY International Music Competition in Xi’an and the BIMFA Solo Piano Competition in Beijing. She also secured first place in the Sigma Alpha Iota Competition and the Kansas Music Teachers Association Collegiate Auditions, and received awards in the Conero International Piano Competition, North International Music Competition, American Protégé International Piano Competition, International Young Artist Competition, Fite Family Piano Competition, and K.C. Musical Club Competition.

As an educator, Isabel received a Mannes Teaching Fellowship and the Piano League’s “Excellence of Teaching” award. She co-founded Pianos Without Borders and her essay Educating the Soul: Chopin as Teacher was published by the Teacher-Scholar Society. She has lectured for the Meitang Shengle International Music Studio, International Piano Professionals Association, and Conero International Music Festival. Her students have won numerous competition prizes and performed at Carnegie Hall; been featured on Sesame Street, received acceptances to top high schools like LaGuardia, Lehman, and Stuyvesant; and have received top honors with distinction on RCM practical and theory exams.

Isabel is dedicated to making music accessible to wider audiences. She is a musician-owner of Groupmuse, which connects hosts, local musicians, and classical music lovers for salon-style house concerts. As a board member of the KU MTNA Collegiate Chapter, she organized a benefit concert series for local nonprofits in Lawrence, Kansas. She has performed for elementary students through the Neighborhood Classics outreach program and for patients at New York-Presbyterian and Johns Hopkins Hospitals.