Long Biography
Kristin Loretta Barone, pianist and music instructor, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1984. She was introduced to classical music and received her first piano lessons at the age of five from her father, an amateur pianist. She began her formal training at Wagner College in New York City at the age of ten.
Kristin received her Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Adelphi University in 2006, graduating cum laude and receiving the James Gould Award for Excellence in Music. While at Adelphi, she was a featured performer in the college’s chamber music program, appearing in graduation recitals, choral performances, and opera workshops.
She earned her Master of Music degree from the Aaron Copland School of Music in 2008 and continued her studies in the Artist Diploma Program in 2009, focusing on advanced chamber music performance. Kristin has performed internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician. After participating in a series of masterclasses led by cellist Kalin Ivanov and pianist Tamara Poddubnaya, she joined them on a concert tour through Eastern Europe, culminating in a signature performance in Plovdiv in 2008.
From 2005 to 2008, Kristin performed with the Adelphi Symphony Orchestra, including appearances as a featured soloist. She also performed at Weill Recital Hall in December 2005. Among her most cherished performances are César Franck’s Symphonic Variations, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, and Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. More recently, she has been interviewed and featured on WXEW 104 FM Riverwest Radio.
In addition to her academic and performance career, Kristin has served as Music Director at several churches in the New York metropolitan area, including Rutherford Congregational Church (2010–2015), St. John’s Lutheran Church (2015–2020), and St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church (2020) before relocating to England. Her first church position was at Christ’s First Presbyterian Church, where she studied with the late David Smith and later succeeded him following his passing. This experience inspired a lasting interest in sacred music and led her to study pipe organ with David Enlow and Peggy Hsiao.
In collaboration with flutist Linda Wetherill, Kristin has premiered and recorded works by contemporary composers at the Counterpoint Italy Composition Competition, an international music festival founded by Ms. Wetherill in 2007. She also served as staff accompanist for the Young People’s Chorus of New York City in 2011.
With a deep enthusiasm for Renaissance music, Kristin became a frequent collaborator with guitarist and lutenist Daniel Keene, performing together in New York and Connecticut for more than a decade.
Kristin has enjoyed a successful teaching career, serving on the faculties of Brooklyn Music House, The Piano School of NYC, Long Beach Music, Oceanside Music, and Adelphi University, while also maintaining an active private studio. As an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, she taught Basic Keyboard Skills and Form and Analysis.
She is a strong advocate for the pedagogical principles of Madeline Bruser. After discovering the effectiveness of Bruser’s approach while teaching masterclasses and adjudicating at the Sound of Manhattan Music Festival in 2018, Kristin incorporated these principles into her own teaching philosophy, where they remain central today.
During 2018–2019, Kristin collaborated with violinist Blanca Cecilia-Gonzalez and clarinetist Asuka Elias as a member of Trio de Reínas in New York. In late 2019, she began collaborating with clarinetist Medina and violist Laura Thompson. Following several live performances, the ensemble continued working together remotely during the pandemic and released a recording of Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen in spring 2021.
As a member of Persephone Trio, Kristin participated in a remote recital at Wolfson College in May 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she recorded 56 piano works. American composer Edward Hines commissioned her to record Akask for Piano, a collection inspired by Turkish folk dances, released on October 1, 2021.
More recently, Kristin has collaborated with pianists Flora Tzanetaki, Marion Caldwell, and Christopher Seed, as well as cellists Iris Azquinezer and Veronica Henderson. Their performances have been warmly received at the Buckingham Chamber Music Festival, King’s Ely, Wolfson College, Robinson College Chapel, Christ’s College, Clare College, St Augustine’s, St Andrew’s, Downing Place Church, and venues in Madrid, Spain.
Kristin is the Director of Conservatoire One, teaching piano in Cambridge and online for students in New York and beyond. She currently teaches pupils at Mayfield Primary School and looks forward to joining the faculty of Chesterton Community College this autumn. Kristin resides in Cambridge, England.
