Member
Seattle, Washington
Website:
https://soundsalonmusic.org/
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Early Music Skills & Interests
Fortepiano, Harpsichord
Early Music Affiliations
Board Member -EMA, Music/Artistic Director, Performer
Biography
Byron Schenkman (they/them) grew up in a home filled with music. Early influences included hearing an uncle practicing the complete piano works of Ludwig van Beethoven, playing older siblings’ LPs of international folk music, and attending live performances of ballet, opera, musical theater, and lots of European chamber music. A special delight was studying the circle of fifths with their beloved piano teacher, Bonnie Rosen. Byron began studying harpsichord as a freshman at New England Conservatory and earned a Master of Music degree with honors in performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of Elisabeth Wright.
Career highlights include dozens of recording projects; performances of 17th-century European music with Ingrid Matthews, La Luna, and Seattle Baroque in the 1990s; fortepiano concertos with Monica Huggett and the Portland Baroque Orchestra; Jewish music with violinist Steven Greenman and vocalist Ian Pomerantz; and world premieres of works by Jean Ahn, Damien Geter, Caroline Shaw, and Jonathan Woody. Shaw’s 2023 Concerto for harpsichord and strings was dedicated to Byron Schenkman.
Byron is Artistic Director of Sound Salon and serves on the board of Early Music America.
