Byron Schenkman

Early years

Schenkman grew up in a musical family on a farm in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from the New England Conservatory, where he was a student of John Gibbons. He 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 he 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. He has recorded dozens of albums, and has made solo and concerto appearances in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In 1999 he won the Cambridge Society for Early Music's Erwin Bodky Award, given "for outstanding achievement in the field of early music". In 2004 Schenkman was awarded a Partners of the Americas travel grant which enabled him to perform and teach in Chile. In 2006 Schenkman was voted "Best Classical Instrumentalist" by the readers of the Seattle Weekly newspaper.

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. He also performs with various chamber ensembles and tours internationally with his contemporaries. He performs as a guest artist with chamber music ensembles in North America. His live performances at the Boston Early Music Festival have been compared with those of Vladimir Horowitz and Jimi Hendrix. He was reviewed in The Boston Globe as "a superb and imaginative instrumentalist".

Schenkman gave his first recital on modern piano at Town Hall, Seattle, in 2001, and has since been active performing and recording on modern piano and harpsichord. His 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".

In 2013, Shenkman formed Byron Schenkman and Friends.

Schenkman performs with the Gut Reaction ensemble, which plays Baroque music on period instruments with gut strings.

Schenkman teaches music history at Seattle University, where he is a member of the Fine Arts Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the Early Music Faculty at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he started teaching in 2005; he now teaches harpsichord, piano, and music history. 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. He also teaches harpsichord master classes, serves artistic residencies, and teaches music history at music festivals and universities.

His principal harpsichord was built by Craig Tomlinson in 2013.

Solo recordings

Collaborative recordings

Albums available as MP3 download only