Kessa Mefford is a native of Peekskill, New York. Homeschooled by two musicians, she was raised not only to be a pianist, but a well-rounded musician. Her mother was a full-time pedagogue and her father was the General Director of an opera company. By the time she was three, her parents discovered she had perfect pitch, and her piano studies began. Throughout her youth, she also studied voice and sang with her father’s opera company and gained a great understanding of the human voice to apply to her piano playing. She made her first public concert appearance at age six for piano. Her first full-length solo piano concert was at age fourteen, and she has since performed solo recitals every year in different locations around New York.
Kessa received a BM in piano performance in August 2017 at Brigham Young University, where she received both academic and musical scholarships her entire education there. After two years of studying with Dr. Richard Anderson, she was accepted to the renowned studio of Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, with whom she studies currently. While at BYU, she competed at their annual concerto competition with Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto in 2015, where she was a finalist. She gave her concerto debut in April of 2016 with the Taconic Opera Chamber Orchestra performing this concerto as well.
While at school, she has also worked as a professional opera and choral accompanist. She has participated in numerous recitals, concerts, and master classes. Her master class opportunities have allowed her to work with renowned pianists Kirill Gliadkovsky, Evelyn Chen, Michael Gurt, and Tamás Ungár.
