Zarina Melik-Stepanova

Dr. Zarina Melik-Stepanova received a Doctor of Musical Arts, the coveted Performer's Certificate and a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music where she was a student of Natalya Antonova. Before beginning her post at Baldwin Wallace, she held positions of assistant professor of piano at Oklahoma State University, where she was awarded the Junior Faculty Award for Scholarly Excellence, and Millikin University.

Melik-Stepanova is a native of the former Soviet Union. She moved to the United States in 1992 and has since performed throughout the United States. She has won first prize at the South Dakota Symphony Piano Competition; the South Dakota Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Piano Competition; the Schubert Club Piano Competition in St. Paul, Minn.; and the J. Earl Lee International Piano Competition; and she was a top prizewinner at the Crane Festival of New Music at SUNY Potsdam, N.Y. She has also been a guest performer at the Eastman School of Music Young Artists International Piano Competition and Festival and at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival.

In 2003, Melik-Stepanova won first prize at the National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Piano Competition, which rewarded her with two years of professional management for the federation. During the next two years, she was featured as a guest artist at the National Federation of Music Clubs Conventions in several states including Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri.

Melik-Stepanova is an active chamber musician, often collaborates with faculty and students at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Performing Arts and is a faculty member of the BW Community Music School. She specializes in Russian language and vocal repertoire coaching.