Cooper Swart, 17, grew up alongside the family Steinway, discovering the piano at age 4 with his dad before starting formal lessons with Karin McCullough at age 7. He has been studying with Dr. Thomas Lee since 2021. His achievements include Gold medals in the SIPF Virtuoso Artists Festival in 2021 and 2023; Silver in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Helen Crowe Snelling Competitions; and Silver in the 2025 Sonafest competition. Cooper was a participant in the Seattle Piano Institute in 2021 and has received the SMTA Musical Excellence Award three times. His other musical endeavors have included voice (seven years in the NW Boychoir), drums, saxophone, and jazz piano, for which he has won multiple outstanding soloist awards and group podium placements with the Lincoln High School Jazz Band and related combos. Aside from his musical studies, he enjoys casual composing and pursuing his interests in STEM.
Watch Cooper Hendrik Swart perform Sonata No.21 in C Major, “Waldstein” by Ludwig Van Beethoven on the piano for the 2026 Spring Music Competition as part of the Charleston International Music Competition.