Richard Sladek

Known for his exceptional versatility, pianist Richard Sladek has performed professionally in the Chicago area for the past 20 years.

A Chicago native, he began playing piano at age seven with inspiration from his parents, later studying with John Calderone and Lydia Smutny Sterba. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University under the tutelage of Saul Dorfman and Felix Ganz. Other teachers have included concert pianists Dmitri Paperno ( DePaul University ), Robert VanderSchaaf, Donald Walker ( Northern Illinois University ), Pawel Chechinski and Joseph Cisar. He has also participated in master classes with University of Michigan piano professor Theodore Lettvin, and has studied jazz piano with Skip Green. His private theory and composition studies were with Ralph Dodds and the renowned composer William Russo.

Mr. Sladek has been the recipient of several awards including those from the Chicago Musical Arts Club and the Grace Welsh National Piano Competition.

Professionally, he has served as staff accompanist for Columbia College and the Second City National Touring Company. He has also accompanied for ballet companies such as the Salt Creek Ballet, and The Academy of Movement and Music, as well as played for ballet master classes with the renowned Maria Tallchief, Violette Verde and Ken Von Heidecke.

He was a featured artist at the Oak Brook Nordstrom and at Von Maur at Yorktown Center, Lombard. In 1994 Von Maur commissioned him to record "Christmas Favorites" (now available on cdbaby) to celebrate the first holiday season of the company in the Chicago area. It has also been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio.

Mr. Sladek has received a New York Film Festivals award for Outstanding Achievement for his Original Music for Video with the nationally acclaimed education theater troupe, Wavelength. As musical director/composer for 16 years, he performed for over 100,000 educators in North America and the Netherlands. He has played keyboard in numerous musical theater productions, most notably for the Shubert, Marriott Lincolnshire, Drury Lane, Apple Tree and Circle Theaters, and the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse.

He has also recorded two other CDs, "Piano Celebration" and "Ragtime Classics".

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