Eden West is a collaborative pianist in Southeast Michigan. She is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she studied with Logan Skelton and Ana Maria Otamendi, and she received degrees in Piano Performance and Music Education, receiving academic honors as a nine-term James B. Angell Scholar. She was also selected as the recipient for The Presser Foundation’s 2024-25 Undergraduate Scholar Award. In the summer of 2025, she will attend the Music Academy of the West as a vocal piano studio artist in the Lehrer Vocal Institute. In the summer of 2024, she attended the Collaborative Piano Institute in Baton Rouge with scholarship and worked with Howard Watkins, Rita Sloan, and Ana Maria Otamendi. In the summer of 2023, she attended SongFest in Nashville with scholarship in the Professional Piano Division and worked closely with Lydia Brown, Roger Vignoles, and Martin Katz. She has worked as a pianist in dance classes for the MPulse Dance Institute, Michigan Youth Dance Festival, and has worked as the pianist for the Young People’s Theater. She has also worked as a choral pianist for the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale and the Northside Community Church.
An avid advocate for music education, she served as President of the University of Michigan’s National Association for Music Education chapter for two consecutive years, organizing professional development opportunities for studying music educators and budding teachers alike. She is also a violinist, having performed on the stage of Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI with the Pioneer Symphony Orchestra and the University of Michigan Campus Orchestra.
During the school year, she works as a staff pianist for the voice department and regularly accompanies recitals, voice lessons, dance classes, and instrumental masterclasses. For two years in a row, West was selected as both a soloist and collaborator to record music of underrepresented composers through the Michigan Recording Project. Around the state of Michigan Eden has competed in various competitions, winning the White Lake Solo Competition and being a finalist in the Michigan Youth Arts Concerto Competition. She has also performed on the radio, most notably the Interlochen Public Radio at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.