07/16/2026
We love to showcase the accomplishments of our students and alumni, but we also want to acknowledge our exceptional faculty at UAPB. Dr. Gjergji Gaqi is serving this summer as Faculty & Co-Artistic Director at the Trieste International Piano Festival. This is what the festival website has to say about Dr. Gaqi.
Equally at home in solo and collaborative music, pianist Gjergji Gaqi maintains an active performing career throughout North America and Europe. He studied piano and chamber music under Prof. Dario de Rosa and Prof. Alberto Miodini at the International School of Chamber Music "Trio di Trieste" in Duino (Italy), while completing the bilingual International Baccalaureate diploma.
A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Colby College as a Music major and Economics minor, Gaqi won the Colby Concerto Competition, studying with Cheryl Tschanz (piano) and Jonathan Hallstrom (composition). Gaqi received his graduate degrees at the University of Michigan under the guidance of Christopher Harding and John Ellis, while pursuing additional studies in jazz piano with Ellen Rowe.
Dr. Gaqi is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, with previous appointments at Tyler Junior College, Siena Heights University, College of the Mainland, Brazosport College and the University of Michigan. He is an in-demand masterclass clinician, presenter and adjudicator of festivals and competitions, and has served in many capacities with various music organizations, including as president of the East Texas Music Teachers Association and chair of ETMTA's Helen Elbert Collaborative Music Festival. Gjergji and Piro Gaqi perform internationally as the Gaqi Piano Duo and are co-founders of the Settenote Online Piano International Competition.