Alison frequently appears onstage with her husband, cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak, with whom she has released three commercial recordings: Preludes and Prologues; 1948: The Cello Sonata After World War II; and Brahms Cello Sonatas and Songs. All three albums are available on CD and vinyl LP. They are planning a recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano in 2027 – stay tuned!
Recent concerto appearances include Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra. She was a top prizewinner of Coeur d’Alene Symphony’s National Young Artists Competition, Thursday Musical’s Scholarship Competition, the Dorothy van Waynen Piano Competition, Graves Piano Competition, and is the second prize winner of the Midwest International Piano Competition. Her performances have been broadcast on local radio stations including KDFC Classical California, Spokane Public Radio, and Iowa Public Radio.
Alison believes in inspiring a love and appreciation of classical music in the next generation; in particular, she encourages her students to pursue chamber music collaborations. She is the director of East Bay Music Foundation’s Chamber Music Festival and creator of EBMF’s Ensemble Matching Service, a volunteer service that matches K-12 students in the Bay Area into chamber ensembles. She has been a coach and a staff pianist at summer chamber music programs including Music at the Mission’s Chamberfest, The Crowden School’s Chamber Music Workshop, and the Castleman Quartet Program.
Alison currently runs private studios in Fremont and Berkeley where she teaches piano, chamber music, and music theory.