27 Notable alumni of Cleveland Institute of Music
Updated: June 15, 2026 EliteDegrees
Cleveland Institute of Music is ranked #5,788 in the world and #1,512 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 27 notable alumni from Cleveland Institute of Music sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Cleveland Institute of Music won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Oleh Mahlay
1969-. (aged 57)
violinist
Oleh Mahlay is an American violinist, pianist, bandurist, choral conductor and lawyer of Ukrainian ethnicity. Mahlay has made a significant contribution to Ukrainian emigre music, primarily through his work with the Ukrainian bandura and the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. Merited Figure of Arts of Ukraine.
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2. Stephen Marchionda
classical guitarist
Stephen Marchionda is an Italian/American virtuoso classical guitar performer.
3. Cleota Collins
1893-1976 (aged 83)
educator
singer
Cleota Josephine Collins was an American soprano singer and music educator. She was one of the founding members of the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1919.
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4. Nathaniel Stookey
1970-. (aged 56)
composer
Nathaniel Stookey is an American composer and musician.
5. Megumi Kanda
1975-. (aged 51)
musician
Megumi Kanda is a Japanese trombone performer.
6. Jasper Wood
1974-. (aged 52)
violinist
Jasper Wood is a Canadian concert violinist.
7. Video Game Pianist
1986-. (aged 40)
pianist
Martin Leung is an American pianist. He plays classical music and is known as Video Game Pianist. He gained recognition for playing video game music on the piano, both in concert venues and in online videos.
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8. Marisa Buchheit
1990-. (aged 36)
singer
beauty pageant contestant
Marisa Therese Buchheit is an American soprano and beauty pageant titleholder from Chicago, Illinois, who was crowned Miss Illinois 2014 in June 2014. She competed in the nationally televised Miss America 2015 competition in September 2014.
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9. Glenn Crytzer
1980-. (aged 46)
composer
banjoist
Glenn Crytzer is an American jazz band leader, composer, guitarist, banjoist, and singer.
10. Grace Fong
academic
pianist
Grace Fong is an American musician who is Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music and has an active solo and chamber music career. She also performs as part of the Selvaggi Trio.
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11. Mildred Miller
1924-2023 (aged 99)
opera singer
musician
Mildred Miller Posvar was an American classical mezzo-soprano who had a major career performing in operas, concerts, and recitals during the mid twentieth century. She was notably a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera from 1951 through 1974. In 1978 she founded the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, serving as the company's Artistic Director through 1999.
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12. Donald Erb
1927-2008 (aged 81)
music educator
composer
trumpeter
Donald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.
13. Judy Niemack
1954-. (aged 72)
university teacher
singer
jazz musician
Judy Niemack is an American jazz vocalist.
14. Joshua Roman
1983-. (aged 43)
cellist
Joshua Roman is an American cellist.
15. Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
1968-. (aged 58)
composer
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, born July 25, 1968) is a Chickasaw classical composer and pianist. His compositions are inspired by North American Indian history, culture and ethos.
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16. Mike Block
1982-. (aged 44)
composer
fiddler
cellist
jazz musician
Michael Glen Block is an American cellist, singer, composer, and arranger.
17. Benny Bailey
1925-2005 (aged 80)
jazz musician
trumpeter
Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey was an American jazz trumpeter.
18. Wataru Hokoyama
1974-. (aged 52)
conducting
conductor
composer
Wataru Hokoyama is a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator based in Hollywood, California. He left his birth nation of Japan at the age of 16 for arts school. He later attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and the USC Thornton School of Music. His works include the original scores for Bean Cake, Ocha Cups for Christmas, One, Afrika, and Soul...
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19. Jason Vieaux
1973-. (aged 53)
classical guitarist
Jason Vieaux is an American classical guitarist. He began his musical training in Buffalo, New York at the age of eight, after which he continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1992, Vieaux was awarded the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition First Prize, the event's youngest winner.
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20. Theodore Kuchar
1960-. (aged 66)
conductor
Theodore Kuchar is an American and Ukrainian conductor of classical music and a violist.
21. David Diamond
1915-2005 (aged 90)
film score composer
screenwriter
composer
David Leo Diamond was an American composer of classical music. He is considered one of the preeminent American composers of his generation. Many of his works are tonal or modal. His early compositions are typically triadic, often with widely spaced harmonies, giving them a distinctly American tone, but some of his works are consciously French in style. His later style...
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22. Ernie Freeman
1922-1981 (aged 59)
pianist
songwriter
Ernest Aaron Freeman was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s.
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23. Jim Brickman
1961-. (aged 65)
pianist
radio personality
singer-songwriter
James Merrill Brickman is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums Peace (2003) for Best Instrumental, and Faith (2009) for Best New Age Album. He won a Canadian Country Music Award, a Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association, and was twice named Songwriter of the Year by SESAC....
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24. Alisa Weilerstein
1982-. (aged 44)
cellist
Alisa Weilerstein is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.
25. Daniil Trifonov
1991-. (aged 35)
composer
recording artist
pianist
classical pianist
Daniil Olegovich Trifonov is a Russian pianist and composer. Described by The Globe and Mail as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso" and by The Times as "without question the most astounding pianist of our age", Trifonov's honors include a Grammy Award win in 2018 and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards' Artist of the Year Award in 2016.
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26. Jim Hall
1930-2013 (aged 83)
composer
jazz guitarist
recording artist
James Stanley Hall was an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger.
27. Mahani Teave
1983-. (aged 43)
pianist
Mahani Teave is a classical pianist from Easter Island, Chile.