Kessa Mefford Biography

Kessa Mefford is an award-winning pianist specializing in the music of Maurice Ravel. Kessa gave her Carnegie Hall debut in December 2022 with a historic program; “Ravel: All of It,” the complete art songs of Ravel with soprano Kristina Cook. Kessa has started two concert series: “Whimsical Birdsong,” based out of New York in which she performs and collaborates with others in presenting the complete works of Ravel that include piano, and "Piano at Noon," based in her hometown of Peekskill as an effort to bring more classical music to the community. In 2023, Kessa gave her radio debut with Cook performing Ravel on New York’s WQXR in a special episode of Young Artist Showcase featuring pianist/singer duos. 

Kessa has performed “Ravel: All of It” in venues all around the United States with Cook, from universities to libraries to museums to community colleges. She has given masterclasses and lectures at universities on the interpretation of art song and pianist/singer collaboration, as well as lectures specifically on the history and interpretation of Ravel’s songs. She is also a performing artist with the Piatigorsky Foundation, whose mission is to bring classical music to underserved communities all around the USA. Concerto credits include Beethoven’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto, Ravel's Concerto in G Major, and the world premiere of Dan Montez's Concerto in C Minor.

At the end of 2019, Kessa released her debut album with Whole Note Publishing featuring the live performance of the Beethoven concerto as well as other works performed live in 2016 by Scriabin, Bach, Menotti, and Scarlatti. Since then, all of her albums have been focused on the works of her concert series. Her second album, “Ravel: All of It” was released in 2022 with Kristina Cook, which was the first album to ever feature the complete art songs of Ravel by a single pianist and singer. Her third album, "Whimsical Birdsong: Live in Concert" was released in 2024 featuring the concertos by Montez and Ravel alongside Ravel's Violin Sonata No. 2. She is currently working on three more albums, "Whimsical Birdsong: Miroirs," featuring solo piano, duo piano, and choral works by Ravel, Chabrier, Borodin, and Liszt; a solo piano program; “Whimsical Birdsong: Gaspard de la nuit,” featuring works by Ravel, Bach, Andres, and Montez; and “Whimsical Birdsong: Masters of Impression,” an album of solo piano, chamber music, and art song by Ravel, Montez, and Faure. 

Kessa received an MM in piano performance from the Mannes School of Music in May 2020, graduating with the prestigious Steinway Award for exceptional pianists with excellent artistry and service to the school and fellow students. She received multiple generous music merit scholarships while studying under Simone Dinnerstein. Through Mannes, Kessa was able to participate in the Neighborhood Classics concert series organized by Dinnerstein. She also performed in several Mannes Sounds Festival concerts, including “Bach’s Footsteps," two years in a row, as well as concerts featuring the works of female composers such as Clara Schumann and Amy Beach. Kessa received a BM in piano performance in August 2017 at Brigham Young University, where she received several academic and music merit scholarships. While at BYU, she studied with Dr. Richard Anderson and Dr. Irene Peery-Fox. 

Kessa has participated in countless recitals, concerts, and master classes, and has performed in summer festivals such as Art of the Piano with Awadagin Pratt and the Montecito International Music Festival. Her master class and coaching opportunities have allowed her to work with renowned pianists Stephen Prutsman, Mikael Darmanie, Jon Nakamatsu, Mark Richman, Kirill Gliadkovsky, Evelyn Chen, Michael Gurt, Tamás Ungár, Marc Silverman, and Evelyne Brancart. When Kessa is not practicing, she is training in her black belt classes in karate, playing video games, or spending time with her husband and two cats.

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