Isabel Keleti is a New York City–based pianist and educator whose work connects performance, cultural exploration, and community engagement. Through her advocacy for Czech music, research-informed teaching, and initiatives that bring music beyond the concert hall, she seeks to expand whose voices are heard and how people participate in musical life. A Kansas native and dual U.S.–Slovak citizen, Isabel’s exploration of her heritage has grown into a commitment to sharing music across cultural and generational boundaries.
Isabel received a Fulbright award from the U.S. Department of State to study with Professor Jan Jiraský at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. Her dedication to Czech repertoire earned her the 2024 Gold Crystal Heart Award from the Czech Center New York, recognizing her significant contributions to Czech culture in New York City. She was also selected as a 2025 finalist for the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
As an educator, Isabel brings the curiosity of a researcher and the experience of a performer into her teaching. Her approach emphasizes careful listening, creative exploration, and the development of students’ own musical ideas alongside a strong technical and theoretical foundation. At the Xi’an International Music Festival, she taught a seminar to college and precollege students about how timbre can influence perception of musical structure. The seminar grew from her research on timbre, which she presented at the 4th International Conference on Timbre, and reflects her belief that learning and teaching continually deepen one another.
Isabel maintains an active private studio in New York City and has taught at Muffin Music Festival, Xi’an International Music Festival, and Conero Music Festival. She has lectured for the Meitang Shengle International Music Studio and the International Piano Professionals Association, and her essay Educating the Soul: Chopin as Teacher was published by the Teacher-Scholar Society. Her teaching has been recognized through a Stony Brook Graduate Teaching Assistantship, a Mannes Teaching Fellowship, and the Piano League’s “Excellence of Teaching” award.
Mentorship is central to Isabel’s work. She seeks opportunities that encourage students to develop confidence, independence, and a lasting relationship with music. Her students have won numerous competition prizes, performed at Carnegie Hall, appeared on Sesame Street, and earned top honors with distinction on Royal Conservatory of Music practical and theory examinations. They have also received acceptances to schools including LaGuardia, Lehman, and Stuyvesant.
Isabel’s commitment to musical access extends beyond her studio. She was a founding teacher of Pianos Without Borders, a program providing remote piano instruction to students in underserved communities. As a board member of the University of Kansas MTNA Collegiate Chapter, she organized a benefit concert series supporting local nonprofits in Lawrence, Kansas. At Stony Brook University, she organized student musicians to perform during the university’s commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11, creating opportunities for communal listening and reflection. She has also performed for elementary school students through the Neighborhood Classics outreach program and for patients at New York-Presbyterian and Johns Hopkins Hospitals. As a musician-owner of Groupmuse, she participates in a network connecting hosts, local musicians, and classical music lovers through salon-style house concerts.
Isabel has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Prague, the Oculus at the World Trade Center, Bohemian National Hall, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Opera America, International House in New York City, Teatro Pavone in Perugia, Xi’an Concert Hall, RUC Concert Hall in Beijing, and the Lied Center in Kansas. Her orchestral appearances include solo performances with the Alicante Symphony Orchestra in Spain, the Conero Festival Orchestra in Italy, the Heritage Philharmonic Orchestra in Missouri, and the Blue Valley North Symphonic Orchestra in Kansas. Her performances have been featured on Kansas Public Radio and Czech Television.
In 2019, Isabel won the ROXE MTSY International Music Competition in Xi’an and the BIMFA Solo Piano Competition in Beijing. She also earned first place in the Sigma Alpha Iota Competition and the Kansas Music Teachers Association Collegiate Auditions, and received awards in the Conero International Piano Competition, North International Music Competition, American Protégé International Piano Competition, International Young Artist Competition, Fite Family Piano Competition, and K.C. Musical Club Competition.
Isabel earned her Bachelor of Music at the KU School of Music, where she studied with her high school piano teacher Dr. Jack Winerock, and her Master of Music at Mannes School of Music under Dr. Vladimir Valjarević. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at Stony Brook University under Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl.