Sean Mulligan. Photo by Jillian Blythe

Mulligan will perform a faculty recital at Foy Concert Hall on September 18.

BETHLEHEM, PA—World-renowned British pianist Simon Mulligan has joined Moravian University’s music department as an artist-in-residence and director of graduate piano studies. 

In his new role, Mulligan will collaborate with faculty, mentor music students, and develop a graduate program in piano performance. To celebrate his appointment, Mulligan will give a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. this Friday in Foy Concert Hall on Moravian’s Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus.

Described by The Times of London as “the most abundantly gifted of pianists” and hailed as “phenomenal” by jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Mulligan is widely regarded as one of the world’s most versatile keyboard artists. His career spans classical, jazz, and contemporary repertoire, having performed with leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Warsaw Sinfonia.

Mulligan says he is passionate about inspiring the next generation of pianists to discover the same joy that has fueled his career as a musician. 

“I get upset when young people are put off continuing in music because of experiences they’ve had or a particularly narrow-minded teacher,” he says. “There’s a lot of music in our world, and I’ve been lucky myself in my days as a student to have such a diversity of piano teachers and to work with some great musicians.”

For his performance on Friday, Mulligan says he will “play a bit of everything,” including classical compositions from Chopin and Beethoven, as well as his transcriptions of music by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Mulligan will also play some of his own jazz compositions and a score he composed with Michael Kamen for HBO’s Band of Brothers. 

Mulligan made his recording debut at age 19 under the direction of legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Over the years, Mulligan built a distinguished career collaborating with icons such as Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Sting, and Liza Minnelli. He has performed for three U.S. presidents and Queen Elizabeth II, and contributed to major film and television scores. 

Mulligan also served as a key advisor in the development of the Steinway Spirio, a high-resolution player piano that can transmit a pianist’s performance across the globe in real time. Mulligan, who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years and now resides in New Jersey, recently put the technology to work, performing on a Spirio for an audience in Beijing, China.

Moravian University is an All-Steinway School, which means every piano owned by the music program must be a Steinway or one of its companion brands. In addition to his connection with Steinway, Mulligan also knew of Moravian through his performances in the Lehigh Valley area, including at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown. 

“Bringing an artist of Simon Mulligan’s stature to Moravian University provides an incredible opportunity for our students and the broader Lehigh Valley music community,” said Paula Zerkle, chair of the music department at Moravian University. “His extraordinary versatility, spanning classical masterworks, jazz improvisation, and contemporary collaboration, embodies the spirit of innovation we cultivate in our music programs.”

Faculty Recital Details:

  • What: Faculty recital featuring Simon Mulligan
  • When: Friday, September 18, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Where: Foy Concert Hall, Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus, 342 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA, 18018
  • Tickets: $15 general admission | $10 seniors and students. Tickets are only available at the door 30 minutes prior to the event. 

For additional performance information, visit moravian.edu/music or contact the Moravian University Music Department.

Event Contact
Paula R. Zerkle, D.M.
Moravian University
Chair, Music Department
Email: zerkle@moravian.edu
Phone: 610.861.1650

Media Contact
Michael Corr
Moravian University
Email: corrm@moravian.edu
Phone: 610.861.1365

About Moravian University
Moravian University, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is the nation’s sixth-oldest university and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. For more than 280 years, the university has been preparing students for reflective lives, fulfilling careers, and transformative leadership in a world of change. Moravian University is a member of The New American Colleges and Universities (NACU), a national consortium of private comprehensive colleges and universities working together to graduate extraordinary professionals for a global workforce and society. 

In 2024, Moravian University became part of a World Heritage designation when Moravian Church Settlements — Bethlehem, Gracehill (Northern Ireland, UK), and Herrnhut (Saxony, Germany) joined Christiansfeld (Denmark) as a single World Heritage Site—Moravian Church Settlements. Moravian is just the second university in the United States to be part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation and only the eighth university in the world to have this recognition.

Visit moravian.edu to learn more about how Moravian University prepares its students for lifelong success.