John Solomons has appeared with great success as solo pianist, concerto soloist, collaborator, and chamber musician, in the United States, Europe, and South America, performing in concert with the Emerson String Quartet, Cliburn winner Fabio Bidini, and under the direction of American conductor Gunther Schuller. A native of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Solomons began his piano studies with his mother at age four, and continued his studies in the United States at age eleven with noted Brazilian pianist Luiz de Moura Castro. His other primary teachers include South African pianist and Van Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist Steven de Groote, and Hartt School of Music founder, Moshe Paranov. Solomons holds degrees from Texas Christian University, the Hartt School of Music, and the University of North Texas where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree under Adam Wodnicki. His international summer studies include the Albert Schweitzer Institute in Gunsbach, France, and the Corsi d’Interpretazione in Farra d’Isonzo, Italy.

Grand prize winner of the 13th Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition, John Solomons was praised by Bartok-protégé Gyorgy Sandor, as “an exceptionally gifted artist, whose musical and pianistic achievements are of the highest order”. Additional winnings include 1st prize in the Musical Research Society’s Stewart Grant Competition (Bartlesville, Oklahoma), 3rd prize in the American Music Scholarship Association World Piano Competition (Cincinnati, Ohio), and the Catalan Composers Prize at the Xavier Montsalvatge International Piano Competition in Girona, Spain. His interest in 20th-century music has led to world premieres, performances, and recordings of works by contemporary composers William Albright, James Sellars, Carlos Guinovart, Lloyd Taliaferro, Rufus Brown, George Chave, and Daniel Baldwin. An active adjudicator, Solomons has served on numerous juries including the Chamber Music Foundation of New England’s International Chamber Music Competition (New England Conservatory), the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition (Radford University), the Jackie McGehee Young Artist Competition (University of New Mexico), and the MTNA/TMTA State Competition (Texas Tech University, Lubbock), among many others. As visiting professor, Solomons has taught at the Curs Internacional in Girona, Spain, the Internacional Festival de Inverno, Vale Veneto, Brazil, and the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico, and has conducted piano master-classes in the U.S and abroad. He has served on the faculties of Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant, Oklahoma, and since 1997 has served on the Music faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington. Recently listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and Madison’s Who’s Who, Solomons has recorded on the Centaur, Evolutionary Music Records, and Marks Records labels.

A member of the Arlington and Fort Worth Music Teacher associations, Solomons has an extensive record of student success. His undergraduate and graduate students at UT Arlington are frequent winners of the department’s endowed scholarships and concerto competitions, and have been accepted to music programs at the Juilliard School of Music, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, University of Colorado – Boulder, University of North Texas, University of Oklahoma, Baylor University, and Southern Methodist University, as well as the International Institute For Young Musicians at the University of Kansas, the Orfeo International Music Festival in Sterzing, Italy, and the Talis Festival and Academy in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. His students have participated in the 2011 Basically Beethoven Festival Rising Star Recital Series and the 2011 Sixth Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth. MTNA/TMTA piano competitions include 1st place winners at the state and regional levels, and a national finalist placement. Other significant student achievements include Honorable Mention in the Juanita Miller Concerto Competition, Dallas, first prize in the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Erma Lowe Award and first prize in the 2011 Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Concerto Competition. Solomons was selected as the 2012 College Teacher of the Year by the Texas Music Teacher Association.