“As a student of several great teachers, it was instilled in me that, in piano playing, sound is everything. It was also instilled in me that a performer's intention of sound is equally important. Now, as a teacher myself, I enthusiastically pass on this advice to my students. I have had opportunities to perform on instruments of many different brands, but far and away Steinways have consistently been able to communicate my intention of sound more than any other piano. Only on a Steinway do I ever feel that I am limited by my own imagination and skills. Steinways are like the best orchestras, their range in color, sonority, and timbre reaches to the farthest ends of the spectrum. Because of this, playing on Steinways engenders in me confidence on stage that make my performance successful and true to my artistic intentions.”
Andrew Le
Born in Vietnam, pianist and Steinway Artist Andrew (Drew) Le has been hailed as "an impressive tour-de-force...a plenitude of poetic nuance" (New York Concert Review), and lauded for his "consummate piano virtuosity" (Goleta Valley Voice) and his "pistonlike precision" (Mountain Tradition). Drew was the first-prize winner of the 2004 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and joined the piano faculty at Kent State University's Hugh A. Glauser School of Music in the Fall of 2019. Prior to Kent State University, Drew served for 14 years on the faculty at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, violinist Jennifer Walvoord, are the Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck.
While at Hope College, Drew founded and directed Holland's popular Brown Bag Series. Passionate about serving the global community, he has also performed recitals as food drives, the last of which brought in close to 600 non-perishable items that were donated to the Holland Rescue Mission. In 2015, Drew performed a benefit concert that raised over $9,000.00, all of which was given to The Reformed Church in America for Syrian refugee crisis relief efforts in Europe.
Drew studied piano performance at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan, and was also a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at the Juilliard School, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2007. His teachers have included Hien Le, Vivian Kleinhuizen, Rich Ridenour, Victoria Mushkatkol, Arthur Greene, Philippe Bianconi, John Perry, and Jerome Lowenthal. Passionate about teaching, Drew's doctoral document explored the pedagogical lineage of Jerome Lowenthal's teachers, including William Kapell, Eduard Steuermann, and Alfred Cortot. Drew was appointed for three summers to the piano faculty of Interlochen Arts Camp's All-State Program as an undergraduate teaching alongside tenured professors. Later, he was selected to be Jerome Lowenthal's teaching assistant at The Juilliard School. Drew has also served on the faculty at the Gilmore Piano Camp, the Gilmore Foundation's KeysFest, and at Friends Music Camp.
As a photographer, Drew has been professionally photographing weddings, portraits, and events since 2007. Drew is a member of Sony Pro Imaging Support and is a former Getty Images Artist. Exhibitions of his photographic work have been presented all across West Michigan.
Drew released his debut recording on the Blue Griffin label in 2013, and has recently recorded the complete Etudes of Claude Debussy. He was the recipient of a Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award in 2016. As a violinist, Drew was a former member of the Holland (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra. Drew has served as Vice-President of the Holland Piano Teachers Forum, and is a member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and Michigan Music Teachers Association (MMTA). He has also served on the Consistory of Third Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Drew will reside in Hudson, Ohio with his wife and their two young children.