Equally at home as a solo pianist, collaborator, and composer, Charles Berofsky seeks to engage audiences through a myriad of styles and genres of music. Born in South Bend, Indiana, Charles grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and began piano lessons when he was six years old. He also developed an interest in composition from a young age and started organ lessons at age 14. Charles was awarded Third Prize at the 10th New York International Piano Competition, and was a co-recipient of First Prize for the one piano, four-hands ensemble round. He has played concertos with the New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestra in Boston and the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra in Rochester, New York. Other recent awards include First Prize, along with an audience favorite prize, at the 2021 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition (senior division); and Second Prize at the 2021 Chautauqua piano competition. For his compositions, he has received a commission from the American Guild of Organists and four prizes from the Eastman composition department. Charles has played in solo master classes for Malcolm Bilson, Andreas Frölich, Christopher Hinterhuber, Alexander Kobrin, Ronan O’Hora, and Daniel Shapiro, as well as working closely in chamber music settings with Robert McDonald, Yeesun Kim, Angelo Xiang Yu, and Thomas Sauer. He has given solo recitals at Temple Emanu-El of New York, the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance; and has been featured as a guest artist with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and the Pressenda Chamber Players. An avid chamber musician, Charles is the pianist of Trio Sponte, which recently won the Grand Prize in the Senior Division of the 2024 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, along with 1st Prize in the Strings/Piano Category. Trio Sponte was selected for NEC’s prestigious Honors Ensemble program for the 2023-24 school year, and made their debut at Jordan Hall in Boston this May. Charles was also one of five NEC students to be selected for the Borromeo String Quartet’s 2023 Guest Artist Award. Charles recently graduated from NEC with a Master’s degree in piano performance. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 2018 with a double major in composition and piano, where he was also admitted to the national music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda. His piano teachers have included HaeSun Paik, Alan Chow, Logan Skelton, and John Ellis.