B i o g r a p h y
Harrison Sheckler, (b. April 23rd, 1996), a student at the University of Arizona, is currently working toward his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance under the direction of Dr. John Milbauer. Sheckler holds a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance Degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with Professor Soyeon Kate Lee and a Masters of Music in Piano Performance degree from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music where he studied with Professor Jeffrey Biegel.
Harrison began piano lessons in Charles City, IA at the age of six with local piano instructor, Sarah Jensen. He spent nearly a decade studying piano and competing in state and national competitions under the direction of Dr. Suzanne Torkelson at Wartburg College, Waverly, IA. Harrison attended his first year of college at Wartburg where he studied with additional piano faculty including Dr. Ted Reuter. He also accompanied the St. Elizabeth's Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Karen Black and played violin in the Wartburg Symphony and Chamber Orchestras conducted by Dr. Daniel Kaplunas. He has collaborated, participated in masterclasses, and received additional instruction from notable artists such as Christopher O'Riley, Alexander Korsantia, Timothy Brown, Kevin Olson, Dr. Robin Guy, Gabrielius Alekna, Maestro Aik Khai Pung, Jimmy Brière, Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor, Dr. Ran Dank, Lee Fiser, Sandra Rivers, Sean Botkin, and Dmitri Vorobiev.
Harrison is the 2014 Terrace Hill Endowment for the Musical Arts Competition winner. He has multiple honors in the Music Teachers National Association Senior Piano Duet Competition at state, division and national levels with his duet partner, Sarah Gao of Cedar Falls, IA. He is the 2014 NAMTA Music Scholarship recipient and the Charles City Master of Fine Arts Award winner. He is the recipient of the William D. Black Memorial Prize in Piano, a scholarship to support undergraduate piano study. In 2017, Harrison was named the 3rd place grand champion in the Bill Riley Talent Search and was featured on Iowa Public Television during the final round of competition. In addition, he was named a 2017 Skokie Valley Concerto Competition finalist, 2017 Global Online Great Composers Piano Competition first place winner, and the second prize winner in the 2017 North International Competition.
On Oct. 7th, 2021, Harrison's orchestration of Jeffrey Biegel's piano piece Reflections of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg was premiered by the Dallas Symphony as part of their concert honoring the late supreme court justice. The program also included the premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg for voice, piano, and orchestra which featured American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and pianist Jeffrey Biegel.
In addition to his studies, Harrison has been privileged to accompany world- renowned opera singer, Simon Estes, as well as multiple classical voice, instru- mentalists, and musical theater students at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.
