Kevin Sharpe, Piano
Kevin Sharpe is regarded as one of the country’s most accomplished concert pianists. After a “Triumphant” performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a successful debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, he has been praised by critics and has enchanted audiences with his “precise touch” and “strong individual voice.” In September 2005, Raoul Abdul of the New York Amsterdam News proclaimed his performance at Merkin Recital hall to be “Magnificent”.
In May of 2006, Sharpe was awarded the distinction of a Fulbright Scholarship Grant to travel to Dublin Ireland where he is currently teaching and performing at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Sharpe was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and studied with pianist and teacher, Frances Walker. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin, Sharpe went on to study at Indiana University where he received his Masters Degree and Doctorate of Music with Menahem Pressler, distinguished pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio.
Sharpe has received many awards: The most recent, becoming a 2006 Fulbright Scholar, he has been chosen by the State of Florida to receive a State Touring Grant, and in 1991, he was the top prize - winner in the Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition in Washington, D.C.
Sharpe maintains a busy performing schedule throughout the country. His performances of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” won him acceptance from New York’s critical elite when Bernard Holland of the New York Times declared, “Mr. Sharp’s rock-steady progress through this complex music reflected both understanding and command.” In his performance at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Sharpe was described as “a thoughtful performer with an attractive ear for nuance and detail.” His performance of the great Bach work at Washington’s Organization of American States was broadcast live throughout the Latin Americas. Joanne Sheehy Hoover of the Albuquerque Journal describes Sharpe’s playing: “Just a few measures into the music and one heard an extra little push on a small downward leap in the bass. It was the slightest of gestures, a delicious surprise, that would be followed by a multitude of such delicacies over the hour's program.” International appearances have included concerts in Mexico, Iceland, Finland Argentina, Hong Kong, Ireland Warsaw and the Czech Republic, where he was a representative for the American Liszt Society.
Sharpe is a member of the “Ritz Chamber Players” which is the premiere chamber ensemble showcasing Afro-American musicians from all over the world. Recently Sharpe joined the group for their New York Debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall in performances of Prokofiev, Brahms and a World premiere by Composer Alvin Singleton.
Currently, Dr. Sharpe holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber music at the University of Florida where he is active as a soloist and chamber musician. He was the recipient of the College of Fine Arts “Teacher of the Year Award 2000.”
