Peter Sykes is one of the most distinguished and versatile keyboard artists performing today.
His playing has variously been called “compelling and moving,” “magnificent and revelatory,” and “bold, imaginative, and amazingly accurate.” Peter has appeared throughout the United States and internationally, including an appearance in Boston’s Jordan Hall as a featured soloist in the Bank of Boston Emerging Artists Celebrity Series. He is frequently heard on the nationally syndicated radio program “Pipedreams.” In March 2004, he was given the honor of performing the dedication recital on the newly restored 1800 Tannenberg two-manual organ in Old Salem, North Carolina, an event featured on the nationally broadcast television show CBS Sunday Morning.
Peter holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Concordia University in Montreal. In May 2005, he received the Outstanding Alumni award from the New England Conservatory for career achievement since graduation. In May 2011, he was honored by the St. Botolph Club Foundation with its Distinguished Artist Award, a major gift awarded annually to an artist who has demonstrated outstanding talent and an exceptional diversity of accomplishment; previous recipients include painter Edward Hopper, sculptor Alexander Calder, and writer Annie Dillard. The award letter characterized him as “one of the major musical intellects and imaginations of our time.”
In demand as a teacher and mentor of aspiring professional performers, Peter is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Historical Performance Department at Boston University. In the spring of 2014, he was invited to join the faculty of the Historical Performance Department at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City as its principal instructor of harpsichord. Learn more about Peter at his website.
Peter will perform on the harpsichord at the Cape Symphony’s Bach and Forth on November 2 and 3, 2019.
