She has also cared for pet birds for most of her life
By Socheatha Burfete
Dr. Maria Asteriadou, KU Professor of Music (piano), was recognized for her work in the field of education when she was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Oct. 5.
Photo Credit: Dr. Maria Asteriadou
Asteriadou is a Steinway artist and is passionate about teaching and opening pathways for human connection, especially through music. She is the founder and director of the Kutztown University Summer Music Festival, a chamber music festival and workshop that is open to local and international students.
In addition, Dr. Asteriadou is the director of the Chamber Music program at KU and initiated an exchange agreement with the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece. Through this arrangement, students from the music department at KU can have the opportunity to travel to Greece and spend a week studying and performing with students at the University of Macedonia.
Dr. Asteriadou also enjoys owning pet birds. Dr. Asteriadou has kept pet birds (canaries, parakeets and cockatiels) at various times in her life, and is drawn to their natural musicality and expressiveness.
Photo Credit: Dr. Maria Asteriadou
One of her favorite experiences from her time at KU has been the annual Piano Palooza, which features multiple pianos and pianists all playing together on one stage. “I remember one in particular….we simply had fun on stage,” she said. “We all got up and danced.”
A personal highlight during Dr. Asteriadou’s career was when she was compared to her favorite musical artist, Martha Argerich, after an international performance. “That was just…yeah…that was a great moment,” she recalled.
She enjoys playing Beethoven. She has played all of his piano concertos and says the composer is “someone she can relate to.”
Asteriadou is from Greece originally, coming to the States in 1985 to attend Julliard. Piano has always been her instrument of choice. She grew up with musical parents; her mother was a pianist and her father played the violin. Naturally, Asteriadou had a built-in piano teacher; her mother.
“Mom decided she wanted to be a [music] teacher, and the first guinea pigs were her kids,” Asteriadou recalled fondly. Her two older siblings decided not to continue their piano studies, but Asteriadou had an affinity and passion for it from the beginning.
She has been teaching at Kutztown since 2008. Her connections to Kutztown date back to the ’90s when she was living in Brooklyn and her neighbors were Hermit and Lisa Oswald, founders of Sorrelli Jewelry, which operates its headquarters out of Kutztown.
They bonded by talking about Keith Haring, who was a friend of Hermit Oswald. Her curiosity led her to investigate Kutztown, and eventually accept a job at the University when there was an opening.
When asked who knows her best, Asteriadou paused in thought. “My daughter,” she replied. “She has that ESP, like a sixth sense. She will say something I’m thinking before I get a chance to say it.”