Schenkman, Byron
Birth nameByron Schenkman
Born1966
OriginLafayette, Indiana, United States
GenresClassical
Baroque
Occupation(s)Harpsichordist
Instrument(s)Harpsichord
Piano
Fortepiano
Years active1981-present
LabelsCentaur Records, Wildboar Records, Loft Recordings, Dorian Recordings, Focus, Virgin Classics, Naxos Records, Boxwood Media, Matthews & Schenkman, CD Baby, BS&F Recordings
Websitebyronschenkman.com

Byron Schenkman (born 1966)[1] is an American harpsichordist, pianist, music director, and educator. Schenkman has recorded over 40 CDs and has won several awards and accolades.[2][3] He co-founded the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and was its artistic director.[4][5] Schenkman currently directs a baroque and classical chamber music concert series, Byron Schenkman & Friends,[6][7] and performs as a recitalist and concert soloist.[8][9] He also performs with chamber music ensembles, and is a teacher and lecturer.[3][6]

Early years

Schenkman grew up in a musical family[5] on a farm in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from the New England Conservatory, where he was a student of John Gibbons.[10] 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.[10] 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.[2]

Career

At first Schenkman played harpsichord and fortepiano.[8][11] He has recorded dozens of albums, and has made solo and concerto appearances in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.[2][12][13] In 1999 he won the Cambridge Society for Early Music's Erwin Bodky Award, given "for outstanding achievement in the field of early music".[3][10] In 2003 Schenkman's recording with Musica Pacifica, Telemann: Chamber Cantatas & Trio Sonatas, won the Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award.[14][15] In 2004 Schenkman was awarded a Partners of the Americas travel grant which enabled him to perform and teach in Chile.[16] In 2006 Schenkman was voted "Best Classical Instrumentalist" by the readers of the Seattle Weekly newspaper.[17][18] 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."[19]

Schenkman has worked with baroque violinist Ingrid Matthews.[20][21] In 1994 they co-founded Seattle Baroque Orchestra, where Schenkman was artistic director from 1994 through 2004, and co-director from 2010 to 2013.[5] In 2014 Schenkman and Matthews received the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Entrepreneur of the Month award.[22] He also performs with various chamber ensembles and tours internationally with his contemporaries.[5][23] He performs as a guest artist with chamber music ensembles in North America.[3][24] His live performances at the Boston Early Music Festival have been compared with those of Vladimir Horowitz and Jimi Hendrix.[7][10] He was reviewed in The Boston Globe as "a superb and imaginative instrumentalist".[10][18][25]

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.[26][27] His New York recital debut playing modern piano was in 2009.[28][29][30] Schenkman's playing has been described as "dazzling" in American Record Guide,[31] and listed in the Chicago Tribune as a favorite recording of 2000, for "stylish, invigorating performances".[32] He released The Art of the Harpsichord in 2017 to critical acclaim, featuring eight different historical harpsichords from the National Music Museum.[33][34]

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.[35]

On March 26, 2023 Schenkman performed the world premiere of a concerto for harpsichord and strings composed by Caroline Shaw on a commission to mark the 10th season of Byron Schenkman & Friends.[36]

Schenkman teaches music history at Seattle University, where he is a member of the Fine Arts Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences.[37] 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.[38] 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.[39] He also teaches harpsichord master classes, serves artistic residencies, and teaches music history at music festivals and universities.[22] Schenkman is a frequent guest on radio station 98.1, Classical KING-FM.[40]

His principal harpsichord was built by Craig Tomlinson in 2013.[41][42]

Discography

Solo recordings

Collaborative recordings

Albums available as MP3 download only

References

  1. ^ Alexander, Morin (July 1, 2001). Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion. Backbeat Books. p. 1122. ISBN 978-0879306380. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Byron Schenkman". Naxos. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Duo plans eclectic performance for Tuesday concert in Port Angeles". Peninsula Daily News. Port Angeles, WA. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  4. ^ von Rhein, John (16 April 2000). "Handel: Italian cantatas". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "Interview: Byron Schenkman & Ingrid Matthews". The Fridge (Blog). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. ^ a b Borchert, Gavin (1 Oct 2013). "Ear Supply: Sounds Like Teen Spirit". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Preview: Byron Schenkman and Friends". KING FM 98.1. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b Bargreen, Melinda (7 October 2013). "'Byron Schenkman & Friends' Off to a Spirited Start". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. ^ Schuth, Brian (12 June 2015). "Contrasts at the Goethe for BEMF". The Boston Musical Intelligencer. Lee Eiseman. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e Teddy, Kaufman; Aryeh, Oren. "Byron Schenkman (Harpsichord, Piano)". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. ^ Barndt, Michael (5 September 2013). "Early Music Now offers an instrumental clarinet history lesson". Urban Milwaukee Dial. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  12. ^ Campbell, R.M. (25 August 2005). "Harpsichordist finds an 'enormous' new world as a pianist". Seattle PI. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  13. ^ May, Thomas (November 1, 2017). "Byron Schenkman & Friends present the poetry of Schumann, played and sung". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  14. ^ McDowell, Peter. "new Musica Pacifica CD "Dancing in the Isles"". Early MusiChicago. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  15. ^ MacBlane, Amanda (30 January 2003). "Music and Marketing Hand-in-Hand: Report from the 25th Annual CMA Conference". NewMusicUSA. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  16. ^ "Amigos Americanos" (PDF). WA/Chile Partners of the Americas. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  17. ^ "The Winners". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Japanese, South American, and world-class piano music to ring through City Hall". City of Seattle. 17 August 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  19. ^ "2007 Music Portfolio". Seattle Magazine. July 2007. p. 105.
  20. ^ Bargreen, Melinda (22 September 2014). "Byron Schenkman & Friends display dashing musicianship". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  21. ^ Jacobi, Peter (18 January 2015). "Baroque violinist Matthews and harpsichordist Schenkman are genuinely gifted in performance". Herald-Times (Bloomington, IN). Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Entrepreneur of the Month". Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  23. ^ Walker, Willian Thomas (4 August 2004). "Scintillating Music in Kuhn Gallery: The 8th Foothills Chamber Music Festival". Classical Voice of North Carolina. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Gut Reaction". Gut Reaction. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  25. ^ Bargreen, Melinda (14 April 2006). "2 siblings, 4 strings and 1 Seattle pianist". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  26. ^ Campbell, R. (April 10, 2008). "Musician trades his harpsichord for a piano on his return visit to Seattle". Seattle PI. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  27. ^ Bargreen, Melinda (20 April 2006). "Daedalus Quartet: dynamic, exuberant, insightful". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  28. ^ "Music at the Frick Collection: Byron Schenkman". The New Yorker. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  29. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (April 7, 2009). "Mendelssohn's Classic Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  30. ^ Davis, Helga (1 August 2009). "Concerts from the Frick Collection with Helga Davis: Byron Schenkman". WNYC 93.9 FM. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  31. ^ Haskins (1 July 2000). "Handel: Variations". American Record Guide. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  32. ^ von Rhein, John (3 December 2000). "Classical Music Finds Hope In Independent Labels". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  33. ^ Brodersen, Christopher (April 2018). "Meet Harpsichordist Byron Schenkman". Vol. 41, no. 4. Fanfare Magazine.
  34. ^ O'Regan, Noel (February 11, 2018). "The Art of the Harpsichord: from Cabazon to Mozart". Early Music Review.
  35. ^ "BS&F Recordings". Byron Schenkman & Friends. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  36. ^ May, Thomas (March 24, 2023). "Byron Schenkman & Friends celebrates past and present of classical music". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  37. ^ "Faculty and Staff Directory". Seattle University. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  38. ^ "Faculty & Staff". Cornish College of the Arts. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  39. ^ Aldridge, Tom (25 June 2012). "Matthews and Schenkman make dazzling duo". NUVO. Indianapolis, IN. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  40. ^ "Search results for Byron Schenkman". KING FM 98.1. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  41. ^ Kiraly, Philippa. "A Too-Rarely Heard Composer". The SunBreak (Blog). Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  42. ^ Komavitch-Tomlinson, Olga. "Instrument Builder Craig Tomlinson". Craig C. Tomlinson. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

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