Baltimore native and Peabody alumnus Thomas Hecht was the founding Head of Keyboard Studies and Madeline Goh Professor of Piano at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (Singapore). He now coaches Piano Ensembles at Peabody to great success. Over the span of three decades, he has appeared on five continents as concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and as a member of the internationally acclaimed duo-piano team of Hecht & Shapiro, winners of the Munich International Two Piano Competition, USA National Duo Piano Competition and Peabody’s coveted Young Maestro Award. He was the former Head of Piano Studies and Artist-In-Residence at Victoria University in New Zealand and prior to that served as Professor of Piano and Artist-In-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. During his graduate studies at Peabody Hecht was also the first pianist to serve as teaching assistant to his beloved mentor, the late Leon Fleisher.

Hecht enjoys a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading teachers of his generation, having produced a multitude of first prizewinners in both solo and two piano competitions throughout the United States, Europe, and Australasia. His Peabody piano duo Ang & Kwek captured first prize at the 2024 MTNA Stecher & Horowitz Collegiate Two Piano Competition in Atlanta. He has given masterclasses at renowned institutions such as the Royal Academy, Royal Northern, and Royal Welsh Colleges of Music, as well as at the Paris, Eastman, Oberlin, Peabody, Sydney, Beijing, and Sichuan Conservatories. Guest residencies have included the Conservatoire de Paris, Sibelius Academy, and the Guildhall College of Music and Drama. Two of his Singaporean protégés were named Young Steinway Artists. 

Hecht continues to be in demand for workshops and pedagogy conferences throughout the world and receives regular invitations to summer piano festivals, including Disentis, Beijing, Sydney, Wellington, Lausanne, Chethams, Taichung, Bavaria, and he will serve on the faculty of the 2025 Leon Fleisher Piano Academy. Thomas Hecht is a Steinway Artist and has recorded for the for the Delos, Azica, Elysium, Atoll, and Master Performers labels and also for the Steinway Spirio piano.