Anton Escano began studying piano at the age of 9, and just two years later, he won his first competition: the Dallas Music Teachers Association Piano Solo Competition. At age 13, he moved to Chicago, where he began studying under Dr. Janice Razaq.

Among his many accolades, Anton has earned first place in the Discover FAA High School Talent Competition, the NWSMTA Awards Competition, and the Ronald Dourlet Scholarship Competition (Senior category). He has also received top honors in competitions held by ISMTA, the Society of American Musicians, the MTNA Senior Division, and the LZHS Concerto Competition.

He was awarded the prestigious Clara Wells Scholar Fellowship, a full scholarship granted by the American Matthay Association, which allowed him to attend the Matthay Association Piano Festival at Pennsylvania State University. There, he performed a solo recital and participated in a masterclass with Donald Hageman.

Anton also attended the Indiana University Piano Academy in Bloomington, IN, where he took part in masterclasses led by Dr. David Cartledge, Dr. Christopher Harding, Dr. Melinda Baird, and Dr. Ruth Morrow.

In Chicago, he was a student in the renowned Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory program at the Merit School of Music, where he received the Cedric L. Hampton Merit Spirit Award and presented a lecture-recital titled “The Evolution of Etudes Throughout the Romantic and 20th Century Time Periods.”

Anton graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Accounting and a minor in Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received a full scholarship to study piano under Dr. Timothy Ehlen. During his undergraduate studies, he earned numerous awards, including the Verna K. Townsend Music Scholarship, the Andrew George de Grado Piano Scholarship, and the Gertrude Weber Gassman Piano Award.

He has been teaching piano since the age of 13 and pursued graduate-level studies in piano pedagogy under Dr. Christos Tsitsaros, head of the Piano Pedagogy Division at UIUC School of Music.

In addition to classical music, Anton is an active vocalist and accompanist at churches across Illinois and Texas. He has performed with jazz ensembles and served as a pit orchestra pianist for musical theatre productions such as Camelot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Catch Me If You Can.