Pianist and fortepianist Axinn has enjoyed a long performing career on both modern Steinway-type pianos and historical pianos. A specialist in ornamenting the music of Mozart and Beethoven, Dr. Axinn is committed to deep exploration of the nuances of Classical and early-Romantic composers’ unique musical vocabularies. 

Her performances have been hailed by the Washington Post and others as a “truly admirable” and “Axinn is an artist…her touch is magical and the fluidity of her playing exceptional.” An exceptional collaborative performer, Dr. Axinn has collaborated with luminary partners including Monica Huggett, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Eugene Fodor, Daniel Heifetz, Fred Sherry, Cynthia Roberts and Dave Eggar in venues across the US and Asia. Noteworthy US concert venues have included Carnegie Stern and Weill Concert Halls; Merkin Concert Hall; Caramoor; Bargemusic; the 92nd Street Y and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has also performed in the Tianjin Grand Theater and the Shanghai Oriental Theater in China and been invited to perform at festivals including The Edinburgh Festival, The Boston Early Music Festival; and Cappella de Turchini.

Dr. Axinn is on The Juilliard School’s College Division faculty teaching chamber music and elective fortepiano, performance practice and pedagogy courses. She teaches collaborative piano and multiple elective courses at Mannes College of Music and recently taught in the music history department at Manhattan School of Music. Dr. Axinn served for three years as Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at the Tianjin Juilliard School in China where she also taught collaborative piano. She served as Assistant Dean at Mannes School of Music for seven years. Dr. Axinn is co-Director of the Academy of Fortepiano Performance in upstate New York, the largest summer workshop dedicated to fortepiano instruction.

Dr. Axinn is a frequent guest instructor in Asia having been invited eight times to present master classes at Beijing Central Conservatory as well as making appearances at Shanghai Conservatory; China Conservatory; Hong Kong Academy of the Arts and multiple Taiwanese universities. In the West, she has presented master classes and lectures at The Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory; Oberlin Conservatory, Smith College, Cornell University and the Koninklijk Conservatorium. 

Dr. Axinn earned a Masters and D.M.A degree from The Juilliard School studying with Margo Garrett, Samuel Sanders and Jonathan Feldman. She also earned degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music studying with Vladimir Sokoloff and Solomon Mikowsky. She was awarded a Fulbright grant to study fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland at Sweelinck Conservatorium in The Netherlands . Post-graduate work included extensive study in piano performance with Zitta Zohar and studies in fortepiano and performance practice with Malcolm Bilson, Jos can Immerseel and others.