Logan Skelton, piano
LOGAN SKELTON is a much sought after pianist, teacher and composer whose work has received international critical acclaim. He has concertized widely in the United States, Europe and Asia and has been featured as both pianist and composer on many public radio and television stations including NPR’s “Audiophile Audition,” “Performance Today,” “All Things Considered,” and “Morning Edition,” as well as on radio in China and national television in Romania. He has recorded numerous discs for Centaur, Albany, Crystal, Blue Griffin and Naxos Records, the latter on which he performed on two pianos with fellow pianist-composer William Bolcom. Upcoming recording projects include compact discs devoted to solo piano music of Liszt and Bartok, and a series of compact discs devoted to his own song compositions, all of which will be released by Blue Griffin Records.
A frequent guest at music festivals, Skelton regularly appears in such settings as the Gina Bachauer International Piano Festival, Eastman Piano Festival, Tunghai Music Festival, MTNA National Convention, EPTA World Piano Conference, Chautauqua Institution, Eastern Music Festival, New Orleans International Piano Festival, American Romanian Festival, Indiana University Piano Academy, Hilton Head Island International Piano Festival, Poland International Music Festival, Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and the Prague International Piano Masterclasses. Moreover, he has given countless performances and masterclasses at colleges, conservatories and conferences throughout the US, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic. He is a frequent juror for international piano competitions. His Centaur Records compact disc, of all 20th century American solo piano music, is titled American Grab Bag: Piano Music of Our Time. AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE described this as a “fascinating recording,” commenting on Skelton’s “superb, wonderfully subtle and elegant playing . . . Bravo!”
As a composer, Skelton’s work focuses on both piano and voice. His compositions have been performed throughout the world by a variety of musicians in such settings as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Tblisi in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Timisoara in Romania, Australia, Poland, as well as numerous cities throughout the United States including Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Dallas, New Orleans, Lincoln, Houston, Detroit, and many others. He composed the required work for the 1993 New Orleans International Piano Competition, his Suite for Piano. His song cycle, Anderson Songs, was selected to receive the 2004 Music Composition Prize from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. His work has been favorably reviewed in many publications such as American Record Guide, New York Times, BBC Music Magazine, and many others. Feature articles have been written on his life as a living representative of the time-honored tradition of pianist-composer.
Skelton holds degrees from Loyola University, Eastman, and the Manhattan School of Music; his principal teachers have included John Murphy, Rebecca Penneys, Lillian Freundlich, and Artur Balsam. A devoted teacher himself, Skelton’s own piano students have won awards in many competitions including Hilton Head Island, San Antonio, Cincinnati World, Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofieff, Fischoff, Jacob Flier, Iowa, Frinna Awerbuch, Eastman, Missouri Southern, Shreveport-Wideman, Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale, Grieg Festival, Heida Hermanns, Peabody Mason, Janacek, Seattle, Kingsville, New York, Oberlin, Idyllwild, as well as numerous Music Teachers National Association competitions. His former students hold positions of prominence in music schools and conservatories throughout the world. He was honored by the University of Michigan with the prestigious Harold Haugh Award for excellence in studio teaching. He has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, Missouri State University, and is currently Professor of Piano and Director of Doctoral Studies in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan.
