Dr. Chad Spears

Chad Spears, a native of Boise, ID, has performed across the US, with additional appearances in Canada and Mexico. A winner of numerous young artist competitions, he made his orchestral debut at the age of eighteen playing Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Treasure Valley Youth Symphony. Since then he has been featured with the Washington-Idaho Symphony and the Coeur d’Alene Symphony as the soloist for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with the Spokane Symphony for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major and with the University of Idaho Orchestra performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Chad earned his Doctor of Music Degree in Piano Performance at Florida State University under the tutelage of Dr. Read Gainsford.

A highly sought-after collaborative pianist, Chad was invited to perform at the Encuentro Internacional de Flauta y Piccolo at the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza in Monterrey, Mexico, where he played in several recitals with the festival’s students and faculty members. He has also been a guest artist in Toronto, Canada, a number of times, performing with flutist Alheli Pimienta, the duo Flautas del Fuego, and collaborating with composer Adam Sherkin. Chad’s performance of Sherkin’s Daycurrents is featured on the website of the Canadian Music Centre. Chad’s chamber music repertoire is extensive and covers a range of styles from the Bach flute and keyboard sonatas to César Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano and Olivier Messiaen’s Quatour pour la fin du Temps. He is a proponent of new music, having performed works by the Japanese-American composer Hiroya Miura, Ukrainian composer Oleg Bezborodko and Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, among others.

A passionate teacher, Chad is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of musicians. He has served as a group piano instructor at Florida State University and the University of North Florida, and has maintained active piano studios in Moscow, ID, and Tallahassee, FL. Chad currently serves as an accompanist and adjunct instructor of class piano for Boise State University’s Department of Music. He works with several Boise State choral ensembles, voice students, and on occasion with the Symphonic Winds and Symphony Orchestra. Chad also collaborates with local area school choirs, The College of Idaho, Alley Repertory Theater, and Opera Idaho.