Pianist Sasha Kasman Laude’s playing is praised by critics as “subjectively inflected” (International Piano), “powerful and vivid” (Palm Beach Arts Review), and having “such an abundance of intelligence that it can only be described as relentless” (Ludwig Van Toronto). An internationally active performer and teacher, Kasman Laude has given solo recitals at Steinway Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Yamaha Ginza Hall (Tokyo), Salle Cortot (Paris), and in twelve cities across Italy. A 2019-2020 Young Artist-in-Residence of National Public Radio’s Performance Today, Kasman Laude’s playing and interviews have been broadcast on NPR stations nationwide. Kasman Laude is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition. One of five finalists of the 2025 American Pianists Awards, Kasman Laude recently performed Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony under the baton of JoAnn Falleta and Nikolai Medtner’s Piano Quintet with the Dover Quartet. This past season also featured return solo engagements for the Ilse Newell Concert Series and Brevard Symphony Orchestra in Florida, and serving on the jury of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. Upcoming major performances include solo recitals at Utah State in Logan, the Chopin Foundation of the United States (Key Biscayne, FL), USU Eastern, and the University of New Hampshire.

 

Since her debut at 13 with the Alabama Symphony, Kasman Laude has been a soloist with the National Symphony and National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Juilliard Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Ann Arbor, Brevard, Hendersonville, Huntsville, Southern Adventist University, and University of Michigan. Kasman Laude is also an enthusiastic chamber musician, collaborating with such distinguished players as Martin Beaver, Blake Pouliot, Doori Na, Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, New York Chamber Players, and the Viano, Aeolus, and Fry Street quartets. Sasha and her father Yakov Kasman have been an internationally touring piano duo for fourteen years. She is an advocate and experienced performer of contemporary music, premiering works of living composers Stewart Goodyear, Thomas Cabaniss, Marc Migó, Nathan Daughtrey, Zachary Detrick, Brittany J. Green, and Eric Mobley. 

 

Kasman Laude is a guest artist, teacher, and adjudicator at summer festivals including IKIF, The Odyssiad, pianoSonoma, Vivace, Southeastern, USU, and Fry Street Summer Festivals, Kyiv International Summer Academy (Ukraine), Busan International Music Academy (South Korea), and PianoCity Milano (Italy). She has lectured and given masterclasses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Calgary, Lee University, Bowling Green State University, and Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. A past Fellow of PianoArts of Wisconsin, Kasman Laude greatly enjoys music outreach and has given over one hundred educational performances in schools and community venues.

 

Kasman Laude is a native of Moscow, Russia and comes from a musical family. Throughout her childhood and undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she was a student of her father Yakov Kasman. She went on to earn an MM degree from the Juilliard School with Robert McDonald, and in 2023 received her DMA from the University of Michigan, where she was the studio assistant of Logan Skelton and recipient of the School of Music, Theater, and Dance's top graduation honor, the Earl V. Moore Award. The same year, Kasman Laude joined the faculty of Utah State University’s Caine School of the Arts as Assistant Professor of Piano in the Department of Music. She regularly performs alongside her distinguished colleagues and the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, has twice been a soloist with the USU Symphony Orchestra, conducts dozens of pianists in the Youth Conservatory’s annual Monster Concerts, and host the popular Music Box Concert Series for pre-schoolers. Dr. Kasman Laude is an honored recipient of Utah State’s 2025 USU Caine College of the Arts Community Engaged Faculty Award and the 2026 USU ArtSci Distinction in Creativity Award.

 

Kasman Laude considers teaching a calling and is dedicated to upholding the legacy of serious pianistic education of her own musical lineage. She emphasizes stylistic clarity rooted in academic study and values the expressive traditions of the Russian school, as well as pianistic health informed by the Taubman approach and Alexander Technique. She regularly adjudicates and gives masterclasses for local and state organizations in Utah. At Utah State, Dr. Kasman Laude teaches a studio of undergraduate piano majors and graduate students, and courses in piano literature, collaborative piano, and special topics in performance and pedagogy. Her students have won local, state, and national competitions.