Pianist Valerie Stern enjoys a multifaceted career as a classical performer, pop songwriter, arranger, and educator.
As a solo pianist, Dr. Stern’s concert programs highlight music by underrepresented composers in the Classical canon as well as genre crossovers and contemporary music. Recent recital engagements were dedicated to works by Los Angeles composers and folk music from around the world. In April 2023 she presented a solo concert of Hip Hop classics for classical piano, an unlikely juxtaposition of genres that was part of Fever Entertainment’s popular Candlelight Concert Series.
After graduating summa cum laude from USC’s Thornton School of Music, Valerie completed her master’s degree in Piano Performance with Professor Kevin Fitz-Gerald. She served on the adjunct piano faculty at Long Beach College from 2008-2018 and has taught at El Camino College since 2014. In 2021 she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from UCLA, where she studied with pianist Inna Faliks. This year she will be serving as the new Music Department Chair at California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA), an annual summer program at CalArts.
Awards & Accolades
She was a prize-winner in the triennial Carmel Music Society Piano Competition, the New West Symphony Discovery Artists Competition, and the Torrance Symphony Concerto Competition. She presented a solo recital at the U.S. State Department after winning second prize in Washington D.C.'s International Young Artist Piano Competition. She was also a soloist with the UCLA Symphony in December 2019 performing Manuel de Falla’s evocative Nights in the Gardens of Spain for piano and orchestra. In January 2023 she premiered Roland’s 50th Anniversary digital concept piano at the CES conference in Las Vegas, NV.
Valerie Stern & Layla Lane Performances
A Los Angeles native, Valerie divides her time between teaching, performing, and singing with her Japanese-American pop duo Layla Lane. With Layla Lane, Valerie has co-written songs for two Coca-Cola commercials, toured Japan and the U.S., and hosted recurring segments on Japanese TV, even though she doesn’t speak much Japanese. In the summer of 2018 Layla Lane was invited to perform the national anthems of both the U.S. and Japan on the field for Dodger Stadium's annual Japan Night. Their debut album is available on the Japanese major label Avex.
Pianist for TV, Film & Special Performances
Valerie's recordings can be heard in the Amazon thriller Nocturne (2020), for which she is also the piano hand double for lead actresses Sydney Sweeney (HBO’s Euphoria) and Madison Iseman (Jumanji). She also appeared in the 2007 motion picture I Know Who Killed Me doubling for actress Lindsay Lohan, who plays a classical pianist in the movie, and in the current season of Perry Mason (HBO). She performed as a pianist for The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience in 2022, a live Fever production based on the hit Netflix series Bridgerton.