Pianist Julia Russ, four-time recipient of Steinway and Sons’ Top Teacher Award (2016, 2017, 2022), and a Steinway Educational Partner, is Professor of Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Before her appointment to CIM, Ms. Russ was on the piano faculty of Kent State University’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. She received her Professional Studies Diploma in Piano Performance, and her Professional Studies Diploma in Collaborative Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She also received degrees from Kent State University (MM in Piano Performance), and the University of Toronto (BM in Musicology). Ms. Russ was the former President of Northeast Ohio Music Teachers Association.

Her performance was selected to be used in the PBS documentary “Violins of Hope.” Her appearances, performances, and interviews were many times featured on both classical music radio stations in the Greater Cleveland area, WCLV and WKSU; and on HCTV of Hudson, Ohio. Ms. Russ is a highly sought after performer, educator, and adjudicator in the USA, Canada, and Taiwan. Her students have won national and International medals and recognitions.

Ms. Russ is passionate about sharing music with the community. She has launched a music series, “Celestial Harmonies,” at St. Francis of Assisi in Gates Mills, Ohio. She has given educational lectures and performances at venues such as municipal city halls, local schools, parishes, nursing homes, and Severance Hall.