School of Music

R. Kent Cook is Professor Emeritus at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he was Head of the Piano Department until his retirement in 2020. He has been an active presence in the Midwest for over three decades as teacher, adjudicator, and presenter. Praised by Cleveland Classical.com for his “colorful and exquisitely voiced playing,” Cook has concertized as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and in Europe, with noteworthy European performances in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, England and Italy. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Cook studied biology and piano performance at Baylor University before earning both Master of Music and Doctor of Music with distinction at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Among his mentors, he credits eminent pianists Leonard Hokanson, Eteri Andjaparidze, Michel Block, James Tocco, Karen Shaw and Roger Keyes. In retirement, Cook has settled in Indianapolis where he plays keyboards in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and teaches adjunct at Butler University. He is Vice President and coordinator of the Collegiate Competitions for the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale, and he is a founding member and officer in the Indianapolis Chapter of the American Liszt Society.  “One of my primary goals in this phase of my life is to bring classical to music to a varied and diverse audience.  I am currently serving as Vice-Chair on the Board of Classical Music Indy, where we are cultivating new audiences through radio, streaming, podcasts and live concerts in and around Indianapolis.  I also founded Concerts with a Cause at Central Christian Church, where we present chamber music concerts and partner with local charities to raise awareness and funding for both the charitable organization and local classical musicians.”