Southern Miss Collaborative Piano To Graduate First Master’s and Doctoral Students

Tue, 04/13/2021 - 10:33am | By: Mike Lopinto

Pictured left to right: Dr. Michael Bunchman, Luciana Simões and Watcharit Kerdchuen (Jean) 

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Music will confer degrees upon its first graduate students in the collaborative piano program this May. Luciana Simões will complete her Doctor of Musical Arts and Watcharit Kerdchuen (Jean) will complete his Masters in Music. Both are students of Dr. Michael Bunchman.

Collaborative piano is the art of collaborating with others. A collaborative pianist is one who plays with vocalists and instrumentalists, and is not merely “accompanying” them, but rather an equal partner in the music making process and product in every way.  

A true collaborative piano program is woven throughout the fabric a school of music, its constituents working as a team to help better support the other musicians in the school and improve their overall standard of performance. A well-established program strengthens the sense of community within the entire school of music. 

“My main initiative at USM is to develop the Master of Music and Doctoral of Musical Arts degrees in collaborative piano and to recruit for and build this new program,” said Bunchman. “The students I seek need to be nearly professional musicians that enjoy and understand the true art of collaborative piano, are invested in learning the collaborative repertoire, and understand the potential impact they can have on young musicians.”

Simões, is from Santos, a seacoast city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. She discovered her passion for collaborative piano during chamber music classes in her undergraduate program. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance from Faculdade Santa Marcelina (Brazil) and a Master's in Collaborative Piano from the University of New Mexico. She arrived at Southern Miss in fall 2018, to study with Bunchman.

“I found out about USM and Dr. Bunchman through a professor at Arizona State University, who encouraged me to apply at USM,” Simões said. “When I was offered an assistantship and found out about how large the international community was here at USM, I realized it would be a great place to come. Dr. Bunchman has been amazing and I feel I've been encouraged and pushed to my limits every single day. I will deeply miss USM and all the friends I've made here.” 

Watcharit Kerdchuen (Jean) played for many musical productions and has worked with many singers from young beginner students to professional artists in Thailand. As a soloist, He won the first prize in Thailand Steinway & Sons Piano Competition 2016 and performed Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 with Bangkok Charity Orchestra. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from College of Music, Mahidol University, and worked as a collaborative pianist in the same college for two years before coming to Southern Miss.

“I am glad that I came here,” he said. “I have grown a lot and have become a better collaborator. I learned how to imitate the orchestra sound and balance the piano sound with each instrument, making anyone I am playing with sound better. I did not learn only the technique but also substantial music literature, which enhances my music understanding.”

Upon graduation, Simões plans to apply for jobs in Brazil, the United States, and Europe to create or join a collaborative piano program at a university. Kerdchuen will continue his study at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for Performer Diploma in Collaborative Piano.

For more information about collaborative piano at Southern Miss, contact Dr. Michael Bunchman at Michael.bunchmanFREEMississippi.