Ingrid Matthews and Byron Schenkman

Originally presented Friday, July 9th 2021

Virtual Streamed Concert Available

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Ingrid Matthews is one of the leading baroque violinists of her generation. Since winning first prize in the Bodky International Competition for Early Music in 1989, she has performed around the world, appearing as soloist or guest director with such groups as the New York Collegium, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the Bach Sinfonia (Washington DC) and many more, and serving as Music Director of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra from 1994 to 2013. Also active as a chamber musician, Matthews is a member of the esteemed Bay Area group Musica Pacifica and has collaborated with countless others. Notable among her many recordings is Matthews’ CD of the Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach, which has won the top recommendation for this music by both American Record Guide and Third Ear’s Classical Music Listening Companion. Ingrid Matthews has taught at Indiana University, the University of Toronto, Oberlin College, USC/Los Angeles, and the Cornish College of the Arts. She also plays jazz and swing styles and is active as a visual artist.

Byron Schenkman believes in the power of music to bring people together for healing and joy. By the time they went to their first music camp at the age of eleven, Byron knew that playing chamber music would be an important part of their life’s work. They have since been a founding member of several ensembles, including the Seattle Baroque Orchestra which they codirected until 2013. In addition to performing live on piano, harpsichord, and fortepiano, Byron can be heard on more than forty CDs, including recordings on historical instruments from the National Music Museum, Vermillion, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A recipient of the Erwin Bodky Award from the Cambridge Society for Early Music “for outstanding achievement in the field of early music,” Byron was voted “Best Classical Instrumentalist” by the readers of Seattle Weekly, and their piano playing has been described in The New York Times as “sparkling,” “elegant,” and “insightful.” A graduate of the New England Conservatory and Indiana University, Byron currently teaches music history at Seattle University, and has been a guest lecturer in harpsichord and fortepiano at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.