Deborah Keily Hanson
Award Winning Compositions
North Dakota Christmas
Featured in the Cleveland International
Film Festival 2022
and the Tribeca Film Festival 2021
America the Beautiful, From Sea to Shining Sea!
2nd Place: 2021 MTAC Composers Today
Italian Concerto Jazz
1st Place: 2020 MTAC Composers Today
Golden Butterfly of Chiang Mai
2nd Place: 2013 MTAC Composers Today
Sunrise at Yushan
1st Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Palawan
1st Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Marito!
3rd Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Tango de Eduardo por dos Pianos
3rd Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Dance of the Northern Lights
Honorable Mention:2012 MTAC Composers Today
Nijo Gardens
1st Place: 2011 MTAC Composers Today
Tango de Eduardo
Honorable Mention: 2011 MTAC Composers Today
Deborah Keily Hanson has a diverse musical background. An accomplished musician, teacher, and performer, she has performed solo recitals, accompanied soloists from the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, performed at the Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival in Jamaica, accompanied musical theater groups locally and with the Los Angeles Opera Musical Theater Company. She has performed with the Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Lancaster Community Orchestra. In September 2010, Deborah joined the Argentine pianist Mario Roque in performing duo piano fund raising concerts for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Deborah also was featured in articles for Pianoforte. In 2011, she was invited to play for a Master Class with Menahem Pressler. She also regularly performs in the Sara Compinsky Master Class.
Deborah studied piano for many years with Helen Landon and then Adrian Ruiz. After joining MTAC in 2007, she began studies with Dr. Louise Earhart. In 2008, Deborah began her studies with UCLA professor and world-renowned pianist Vitaly Margulis. Margulis was the inspiration to begin composing in 2011. Her first compositions, Nijo Gardens and Tango de Eduardo were winners in the MTAC Composer’s Today State Contest 2011. In 2012, five of Deborah’s compositions were winners: Palawan, Sunrise at Yushan, Tango por dos Pianos, Marito!, and Dance of the Northern Lights. In 2012 she began studying composition with Konstantin Sirounian.
Deborah received her BA Degree and teaching credential in 1989 from Chapman University. In 1992, she was Teacher Of The Year at El Dorado Elementary. While at El Dorado, she produced and directed over 20 musicals. She also co-founded Lancaster School District’s “Kids on Stage” program, whereby children in the District’s 16 schools performed annually at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, raising over $100,000 to fund arts in education. She produced a CD of her students, “Proud to be American” as a fund raiser for Roberto Clementi Elementary School, one mile from ground zero. The CD was mentioned in Entertainment Weekly magazine and in a CBS Special, “The Day America Was Changed”. Her educational success won her both the Dawley-McLaughlin Award for Excellence in Music Education and the 2001 BRAVO Award presented by the Los Angeles Music Center.
North Dakota Christmas
Featured in the Cleveland International
Film Festival 2022
and the Tribeca Film Festival 2021
America the Beautiful, From Sea to Shining Sea!
2nd Place: 2021 MTAC Composers Today
Italian Concerto Jazz
1st Place: 2020 MTAC Composers Today
Golden Butterfly of Chiang Mai
2nd Place: 2013 MTAC Composers Today
Sunrise at Yushan
1st Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Palawan
1st Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Marito!
3rd Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Tango de Eduardo por dos Pianos
3rd Place: 2012 MTAC Composers Today
Dance of the Northern Lights
Honorable Mention:2012 MTAC Composers Today
Nijo Gardens
1st Place: 2011 MTAC Composers Today
Tango de Eduardo
Honorable Mention: 2011 MTAC Composers Today
Deborah Keily Hanson has a diverse musical background. An accomplished musician, teacher, and performer, she has performed solo recitals, accompanied soloists from the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, performed at the Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival in Jamaica, accompanied musical theater groups locally and with the Los Angeles Opera Musical Theater Company. She has performed with the Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Lancaster Community Orchestra. In September 2010, Deborah joined the Argentine pianist Mario Roque in performing duo piano fund raising concerts for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Deborah also was featured in articles for Pianoforte. In 2011, she was invited to play for a Master Class with Menahem Pressler. She also regularly performs in the Sara Compinsky Master Class.
Deborah studied piano for many years with Helen Landon and then Adrian Ruiz. After joining MTAC in 2007, she began studies with Dr. Louise Earhart. In 2008, Deborah began her studies with UCLA professor and world-renowned pianist Vitaly Margulis. Margulis was the inspiration to begin composing in 2011. Her first compositions, Nijo Gardens and Tango de Eduardo were winners in the MTAC Composer’s Today State Contest 2011. In 2012, five of Deborah’s compositions were winners: Palawan, Sunrise at Yushan, Tango por dos Pianos, Marito!, and Dance of the Northern Lights. In 2012 she began studying composition with Konstantin Sirounian.
Deborah received her BA Degree and teaching credential in 1989 from Chapman University. In 1992, she was Teacher Of The Year at El Dorado Elementary. While at El Dorado, she produced and directed over 20 musicals. She also co-founded Lancaster School District’s “Kids on Stage” program, whereby children in the District’s 16 schools performed annually at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, raising over $100,000 to fund arts in education. She produced a CD of her students, “Proud to be American” as a fund raiser for Roberto Clementi Elementary School, one mile from ground zero. The CD was mentioned in Entertainment Weekly magazine and in a CBS Special, “The Day America Was Changed”. Her educational success won her both the Dawley-McLaughlin Award for Excellence in Music Education and the 2001 BRAVO Award presented by the Los Angeles Music Center.