“Bannister played with intelligence, poetry and proportion.”
— The Washington Post
Praised by The Washington Post for playing “...with intelligence, poetry and proportion,” Tanya Bannister is a concert pianist and influential arts leader whose career bridges performance, entrepreneurship, and cultural advocacy. Whether on stage or behind the scenes, she is known for her depth of artistry, forward-thinking vision, and unwavering belief in music’s power to create human connection and social impact.
Bannister currently serves as President of Concert Artists Guild (CAG), a nonprofit that supports emerging classical musicians through management, mentorship, and career innovation. A former winner of the CAG International Competition, she brings firsthand experience and conviction to her leadership. Bannister has spearheaded a transformation of the organization—launching a year-round artist selection model, expanding programming with the CAG Conductors Program, and establishing Citizen Musician Training, a series of programs and initiatives that equip artists with entrepreneurial skills to build meaningful, sustainable careers. Under her leadership, CAG has also forged a transatlantic partnership with the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in London, offering its artists an expanded platform for international exposure and career development.
She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of AlpenKammerMusik, a unique summer chamber music festival in the Austrian Alps. Under her leadership, the program has evolved into a rare multi-generational and international gathering that unites pre-professionals and accomplished amateurs in an environment of intense musical study, cross-generational collaboration, and lifelong learning.
As a pianist, Bannister has performed at many of the world’s leading concert halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot in Paris, Teatro Communale in Bologna, Tokyo’s Nikkei Hall, London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She is a laureate of both the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the New Orleans International Piano Competition, and was featured as an “Artist to Watch” on the cover of SYMPHONY magazine.
She is also the co-founder of Roadmaps Festival in New York, a socially engaged performance platform that centers global crises through multidisciplinary programming—past editions have addressed the Syrian refugee crisis and humanitarian advocacy. Her commitment to philanthropy and social advocacy also includes co-founding Pianists for New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and producing a recital CD with ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox to support children affected by Japan’s 2011 tsunami.
A passionate chamber musician, Bannister has collaborated with artists such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Randall Scarlata, Tessa Lark, Trey Lee, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Martin Chalifour, Wendy Warner, and the Parker, Enso, and Daedalus Quartets. Her orchestral engagements include performances with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Dominican Republic), Brevard Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra, and Acadiana Symphony.
Bannister is a committed interpreter of contemporary music, having premiered works by Christopher Theofanidis, David Del Tredici, Suzanne Farrin, Harold Meltzer, and Sidney Corbett. Her discography spans labels including Naxos, Albany Records, and CAG Records. Notable recordings include her Clementi sonatas (praised by BBC Music Magazine for their "lyrical insight") and a chamber arrangement of Mozart, Chopin, and Schubert piano concerti, which received a New York Times special mention.
Born in Hong Kong to an English father and Japanese mother, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Yale University, and the Mannes School of Music, where she was mentored by Richard Goode.
