Sean Kennard
Biography Sean Kennard
Sean Kennard
has won top prizes in the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), the International Music Competition of Viña del Mar (Chile), the Vendome International Piano Competition (Portugal), the Sendai International Music Competition (Japan), the Hilton Head International Piano Competition (USA), the National Chopin Competition, the Iowa Piano Competition, the American Pianists Association, and the International Chopin Competition of the Pacific.
Kennard has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the Prague Radio Symphony, NHK Chamber Orchestra (Japan), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic, Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre Royal de Chambre (Belgium), Chamber Orchestra of Frankfurt (Germany), Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc (Morocco), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, Orquesta Filarmónica de Montevideo, Orquesta Sinfonica Regional (Uruguay), Sinfonia Perugina (Italy), Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (Dominican Republic), New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and the orchestras of Charleston, Sioux City, Hilton Head, and Honolulu.
He has appeared in recital and chamber music in such venues as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Salle Cortot (Paris), Palais des Beaux-arts and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie (Brussels), Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), Chopin Society (Warsaw), Teatro Caio Melisso (Spoleto), Sala dei Notari (Perugia), Tokyo Opera City Hall, Yomiuri Otemachi Hall (Tokyo), Yamaha Hall (Tokyo), Seoul Arts Center, Hong Kong City Hall, Mohamed V Theater (Morocco), Teatro Solis (Montevideo), and Teatro del Lago (Chile).
The Washington Post wrote of his “powerful and involved music making” and described him as “a strong luminous pianist.” American Record Guide said that he “plays Chopin’s Preludes with more poise and vision than most pianists who have recorded them. He boasts a huge, romantic sound and a bold melodic vision.” Fanfare wrote that “his playing is full of life and sparkle.”
Sean’s first teacher was Ellen Masaki. He received a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2004. In his final year at Curtis he won the institute’s Sergei Rachmaninoff Award, given to one graduating pianist each year. After subsequent work with pianist Enrique Graf he received a Master of Music from the Juilliard School (studios of Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald) and spent the following two years in the studio of Richard Goode. He is currently engaged in doctoral studies at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Boris Berman.
