Jeffrey Sykes

Location:

Alameda
United States 94501

Additional Info:

Acclaimed by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "a commanding solo player, the most supportive of accompanists, and a leader in chamber music," pianist Jeffrey Sykes has performed throughout the United States, Western Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Chile. He has garnered praise for his interpretations of music both old and new: The San Francisco Examiner praised his appearance with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players as “a tour-de-force performance [that was] the evening’s major delight.” And The Well-Tempered Ear commented that “Mr. Sykes displayed the ideal Chopin touch and tone [in Chopin's Cello Sonata]. His fleet fingers captured the lightness of the bel canto singing style in Chopin, with its filigree runs and quickly turned ornaments, all making the hard sound effortless and graceful.”

Together with violinist Axel Strauss and cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Sykes is a founding member of the San Francisco Piano Trio. Noted for its virtuosic ensemble playing throughout a wide repertoire ranging from the trios of Haydn and Beethoven to those of Leon Kirchner and Astor Piazzolla, the trio maintains an active performance schedule.

Dr. Sykes is the founder and artistic director of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society of Wisconsin, a highly-acclaimed and innovative chamber music festival now in its 32nd season. He was recently appointed as the artistic director of in the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio, Texas, a festival in its 27th season. He is a regular guest artist in festivals and series around the country, including the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society in New York and Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley, California. In 2007, he served as the guest artistic director of Music in the Vineyards. He has recorded for the Albany, CRI, Mandala, Centaur, and Cactus Pear record labels.

For eighteen years, Dr. Sykes served as the Music Director of Opera for the Young, a preeminent producer and presenter of opera for children that has introduced more than two million children to opera. He works extensively as a vocal coach and accompanist throughout the US and teaches piano, accompanying, and vocal coaching at the University of California–Berkeley and California State University–East Bay.

Dr. Sykes holds degrees with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden-bei-Wien, Austria. He continued his education as a Fulbright scholar at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A recipient of the Jacob Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education, he completed his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Instruments

Piano, Harpsichord

Specialisms

Early Music, Contemporary Music, Instrumental Accompaniment, Vocal Accompaniment, Vocal Repetiteur, Musical Direction, Vocal Coaching

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