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. He co-founded the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and was its artistic director. Schenkman currently directs a baroque and classical chamber music concert series, Byron Schenkman & Friends, and performs as a recitalist and concert soloist. He also performs with chamber music ensembles, and is a teacher and lecturer. 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 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 him to perform and teach in Chile. In 2006 Schenkman was voted "Best Classical Instrumentalist" by the readers of the "Seattle Weekly" newspaper. In 2007 he was 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. 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". He 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 and 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. 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 was a member of the Early Music Faculty at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he 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. He also teaches harpsichord master classes, serves artistic residencies, and teaches music history at music festivals and universities. Schenkman is a frequent guest on radio station 98.1, Classical KING-FM. His principal harpsichord was built by Craig Tomlinson in 2013.