Byron Schenkman

Byron Schenkman (born 1966) is an American harpsichordist, pianist, music director, and educator. Schenkman has recorded over 40 CDs and has won several awards and accolades. They co-founded the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and were its artistic director. Schenkman currently directs a baroque and classical chamber music concert series, Sound Salon, formerly Byron Schenkman & Friends, and performs as a recitalist and concert soloist. They also perform with chamber music ensembles, and are a teacher and lecturer.

Early years

Schenkman grew up in a musical family on a farm in Lafayette, Indiana. They graduated from the New England Conservatory, where they were a student of John Gibbons. They studied with Elisabeth Wright and Edward Auer at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and earned a Master of Music degree with Honors in Performance. In 1990 they earned a Performer's Certificate in Harpsichord from Indiana University School of Music. In 1991 Schenkman was a finalist in the Cambridge Society for Early Music's International Mozart Competition.

Career

At first Schenkman played harpsichord and fortepiano. They have recorded dozens of albums, and have made solo and concerto appearances in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In 1999 they won the Cambridge Society for Early Music's Erwin Bodky Award, given "for outstanding achievement in the field of early music". In 2003 Schenkman's recording with Musica Pacifica, Telemann: Chamber Cantatas & Trio Sonatas, won the Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award. In 2004 Schenkman was awarded a Partners of the Americas travel grant which enabled them to perform and teach in Chile. In 2006 Schenkman was voted "Best Classical Instrumentalist" by the readers of the Seattle Weekly newspaper. In 2007 they were featured in the Seattle Magazine Music Portfolio of Seattle's Defining Musicians as a Key Player saying that "He makes 300-year-old music sound fresh."

Schenkman has worked with baroque violinist Ingrid Matthews. In 1994 they co-founded Seattle Baroque Orchestra, where Schenkman was artistic director from 1994 through 2004, and co-director from 2010 to 2013. In 2014 Schenkman and Matthews received the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Entrepreneur of the Month award. Schenkman also performs with various chamber ensembles and tours internationally with their contemporaries. They perform as a guest artist with chamber music ensembles in North America. Their live performances at the Boston Early Music Festival have been compared with those of Vladimir Horowitz and Jimi Hendrix. They were reviewed in The Boston Globe as "a superb and imaginative instrumentalist".

Schenkman gave their first recital on modern piano at Town Hall, Seattle, in 2001, and has since been active performing and recording on modern piano and harpsichord. Their New York recital debut playing modern piano was in 2009. Schenkman's playing has been described as "dazzling" in American Record Guide, and listed in the Chicago Tribune as a favorite recording of 2000, for "stylish, invigorating performances". They released The Art of the Harpsichord in 2017 to critical acclaim, featuring eight different historical harpsichords from the National Music Museum.

In 2013, Schenkman formed Byron Schenkman & Friends.

In 2017 Schenkman created a new recording label named Byron Schenkman & Friends. In 2018 the recording label name was changed to BS&F Recordings.

On March 26, 2023, Schenkman performed the world premiere of Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings composed by Caroline Shaw on a commission to mark the 10th season of Byron Schenkman & Friends.

In 2023 Byron Schenkman & Friends was rebranded as Sound Salon.

Schenkman teaches music history at Seattle University, where they are a member of the Fine Arts Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. They were a member of the Early Music Faculty at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where they taught harpsichord, piano, and music history from 2005 to 2017. In 2012 Schenkman was visiting instructor of fortepiano and harpsichord at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Schenkman gives master classes on 18th-century performance, informal lecture-recitals, and pre-concert talks. They also teach harpsichord master classes, serve artistic residencies, and teach music history at music festivals and universities. Schenkman is a frequent guest on radio station 98.1, Classical KING-FM.

Their principal harpsichord was built by Craig Tomlinson in 2013.

Discography

References

External links

• Official website:
• 'Ep. 66: Byron Schenkman, harpsichordist, pianist and music director' Interview by Tigran Arakelyan