His many competition successes include the silver medal in the William Kapell International Competition and first prizes in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, the North Carolina Symphony Bryan Competition and the Augusta Symphony Boyd Competition. He was also awarded a Beethoven Fellowship from the American Pianists Association.
Mr. Padgett will perform with the Nittany Valley Symphony in its 1998 - 1999 Season Opener Dance by the light of the moon under the baton of Conductor and Music Director Michael Jinbo on September 28, 1998 at 8PM.
A consummate chamber musician, Mr. Padgett has won critical acclaim for his recitals with cellist Daniel Gaisford and violinist Elmar Oliveira. He performs regularly with pianist Phillip Bush as part of the Bush/Padgett Duo and has been a frequent guest member of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Mr. Padgett has been featured guest artist at the Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, and Newport Music Festivals.
His recent solo recitals have included appearances on Caramoor's Fall Concert Series and Xavier University's Piano Series in Cincinnati. Important engagements in 1997 included performances with the Steve Reich Ensembel, the Schumann Concerto with the Marion Philharmonic, the Brahms Concerto #1 with the Missouri Symphony Society, and the Brahms F minor Quintet with the Mendelssohn String Quartet. In addition, Padgett made his first solo CD of Ravel and Faure piano works. During the fall of 1997 he toured across the United States with Philip Glass's Les Enfants Terribles.
Mr. Padgett's principal teachers have been Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory, from which he earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees and Clifton Matthews at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Post graduate work at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts included study with Menahem Pressler and Gyorgy Sebok. Mr. Padgett, a native of North Carolina, resides in New York City.