Sean Eric Kennard (born October 3, 1984) is an American classical pianist.

Early years

Sean Kennard was born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to a Japanese mother and American father. He grew up in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and his family moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

when he began studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, at age 13. Kennard began lessons at the Ellen Masaki School of Music on his tenth birthday, October 3, 1994 in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii and began studies with Ellen Masaki on January 5, 1995.Piano Boy
. '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin''. 1996-11-12. Retrieved on 2009-03-02. In the summer of that year he gave his first public solo performance in Honolulu. He performed in Carnegie Hall on May 18, 1996 as part of the Hawaii Music Awards, and travelled back to Honolulu the next day to place first in the final round of the International Chopin Competition of the Pacific.Musical Memoir
. '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin''. 2003-05-13. Retrieved on 2009-03-02. He performed recitals in Poland in 1997 at the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Warsaw and

Żelazowa Wola Żelazowa Wola () is a village in Gmina Sochaczew, Sochaczew County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies on the Utrata River, some northeast of Sochaczew Sochaczew () is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants (2 ...

( Chopin's birthplace). On October 3, 1997, the third anniversary of beginning piano studies, he performed a recital of Chopin's Études Op. 10 and 25 at the Academy of Arts in Honolulu.

Education

Kennard received his bachelor of music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2004. He began studies at Curtis with

Eleanor Sokoloff Eleanor Sokoloff (née Blum; June 16, 1914July 12, 2020) was an American pianist and academic who formed a piano duo with her husband, Vladimir Sokoloff. She taught piano on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music from 1936 until her death ...

in 1998, and was the first student from the state of Hawaii ever to be accepted to the institution. In his final year, he was awarded the piano department's Sergei Rachmaninoff Award, given to one graduating pianist each year. During his time at Curtis, he won 2nd prize at the

Hilton Head International Piano Competition The Hilton Head International Piano Competition is a piano competition held annually since 1996 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina's First Presbyterian Church. Selected list of jurors * Joseph Banowetz * José Feghali * Peter Frankl * ...

. Immediately after graduating, he competed in the

Sendai International Music Competition The Sendai International Music Competition is a triennial violin and piano music competition held in Sendai, Japan, presented in association with the Sendai International Music Competition Organizing Committee, City of Sendai and the Sendai Cul ...

and was the first American and contestant outside of Asia and Europe to win a prize in the competition. He went on from Curtis to study with Enrique Graf at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

in their Artist Certificate program in Fall of 2004. In 2012 he graduated with a Master of Music from the Juilliard School, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald, before entering the Professional Studies Diploma program at Mannes College later that year to study with Richard Goode. He was accepted into the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Boris Berman in 2014, and completed the residential portion of the degree in the Spring of 2016.

Concert appearances

After beginning studies with Graf, Kennard won various other prizes in piano competitions, including the National Chopin Competition, Iowa Piano Competition, and Dr. Luis Sigall Music Competition. He was one of four finalists from the 2005 National Chopin Competition featured in the documentary "Pianists," relating the story of the American pianists as they travelled to Poland to participate in the 2005

International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina), often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland. It was initiated in 1927 and has been held ev ...

. In 2009 he was one of two pianists named "Vendome Virtuosi" at the Vendome Prize in Lisbon. He was a Laureate of the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels where he performed in the final round with the National Orchestra of Belgium conducted by Marin Alsop. When he was accepted into Yale's Doctor of Musical Arts program In 2014, he was the sole musician chosen to receive the Mustard Seed Foundation's Harvey Fellowship Award, a cash stipend given to exceptional Christian students in top tier graduate programs around the world. Kennard has appeared as soloist with various orchestras around the world, including the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie (Belgium), Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc (Morocco), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (Japan), Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra (Japan), Osaka Symphony Orchestra (Japan), NHK Chamber Orchestra (Japan), Kyushu Symphony Orchestra (Japan), Yamagata Symphony Orchestra (Japan), Orchestra Sinfónica Nacional (Dominican Republic), Deutsches Kammerorchester (Frankfurt), Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile, Orquesta Filarmónica de Montevideo, Orquesta Filarmónica Regional (Chile), Sinfonia Perugina (Italy), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Concepción (Chile), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Concepción (Chile),

Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is a nonprofit chamber orchestra headquartered at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2019-2020 it will celebrate its 35th season. History The orchestra was founded by musicologist David Urness ...

Honolulu Symphony The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. It is the second oldest orchestra in the USA west of the Rocky Mountains. The orchestra now plays at Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall and the Hawaii Th ...

Orchestra,

Sioux City Symphony Orchestra The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Sioux City, Iowa. Its home is the Orpheum Theater. History The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra and The Sioux City Municipal Band were each formed in the early 1930s under the guida ...

, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and Florida International University Orchestra. He has appeared in recital and chamber music in such venues as Teatro Caio Melisso (Spoleto, Italy), Teatro Municipal (Vina del Mar, Chile), Yomiuri Otemachi Hall (Tokyo, Japan), Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (Washington D.C.), Seoul Arts Center (Seoul, Korea), Hong Kong City Hall (Hong Kong), Salle Cortot (Paris, France), Theatre Royal de la Monnaie (Brussels, Belgium), Palacio Nacional de Queluz (Lisbon, Portugal), Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall (Tokyo, Japan), Chopin Society (Warsaw, Poland), Alice Tully Hall (New York City, USA), International Piano Series (Charleston, SC), Katsushika Symphony Hills (Tokyo, Japan), Hilbert Circle Theatre (Indianapolis, IN), Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal), Orvis Auditorium (Honolulu, HI), California MTA Convention (San Jose, CA), Minami-Azabu Centre Hall (Tokyo, Japan), Togouchi Fureai Center (Akiota, Japan), Kresge Recital Hall (Pittsburgh, PA), Rantokaku Art Museum (Kure, Japan), Cine Teatro Municipal (Treinta y Tres, Uruguay), Steinway Hall (New York City, USA), Munetsugu Hall (Nagoya, Japan), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels, Belgium), Hawaii Theater (Honolulu, HI), Oto no Izumi Hall (Oita, Japan), Flagey Studio 4 (Brussels, Belgium), Yamaha Hall (Tokyo, Japan), Teatro del Lago (Frutillar, Chile), Civic Cultural Hall (Morioka, Japan), Alumni Concert Hall (Pittsburgh, PA), Gallery Core Hall (Takasaki, Japan), Academy of the Arts (Honolulu, HI), Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach, FL), Perlman Music Program (Shelter Island, NY), Christ Church Cathedral (Indianapolis, IN), Takarayama Hall (Kagoshima, Japan), Teatro Larranaga (Paysandu, Uruguay), Tobata Civic Center (Kitakyushu, Japan), Sala dei Notari (Perugia, Italy), Sogo Hall (Saijo, Japan), Hotel del Lago (Punta del Este, Uruguay)( He is currently represented in Japan by Nippon Artists Management Inc.

Teaching Positions

Beginning in the fall of 2017, Kennard holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano at

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

's School of Music.

Recognition

Patrick Rucker of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said of his performance of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's Sonata Op. 57 "Appassionata" that he played with "powerful and involved musicmaking" Ruth Bingham of the ''

Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and In ...

'' said of his last-minute substitution for Van Cliburn Competition silver medalist Joyce Yang, playing the Grieg concerto with the

, that he displayed "a special affinity for quietly lyrical passages"Bingham, Ruth. "Symphony surprises prove to be pleasant" ''

The Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and In ...

'', Page B2, 2008-10-20.

Awards

* 2003,

(USA), 2nd prize * 2004,

(Japan), 5th prize * 2004, Curtis Institute of Music Sergei Rachmaninoff Award * 2005, National Chopin Competition (USA), 3rd prize * 2006, Iowa Piano Competition (USA), 2nd prize * 2007, Dr. Luis Sigall International Music Competition, Vina del Mar (Chile), 1st prize and Best Performance of the Obligatory Work (member of

World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...

) * 2009, Vendome Prize (Portugal), Vendome Virtuoso Award * 2013, Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Laureate * 2014, Mustard Seed Foundation, Harvey Fellowship Award

References

External links

Sean Kennard's website

Curtis Institute of Music website

College of Charleston website

Nippon Artists Management Inc. website

World Federation of International Music Competitions website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Sean 1984 births American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists Contemporary classical music performers American classical musicians of Japanese descent Living people Curtis Institute of Music alumni 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists