AMF Founder Barbara McKenzie
Barbara McKenzie is a dynamic performer, internationally hailed for her “…sensitivity and intensity that one rarely finds, even from the most venerated artists” (Westfälische Rundschau-Münster), and gifted teacher, educated in the highest German and French musical traditions through the legacies of Artur Schnabel and Alfred Cortot. She delivers great depth of musical understanding with passion, joy, infinite color and refinement whether as solo recitalist, chamber musician or art song collaborator. “… incomparable differentiation of tone colors.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) “….a discovery which has charmed us all.” (Le Matin). A passionate and dedicated musician, her background encompasses the entire career spectrum: teacher, performer, mentor, entrepreneurial arts leader and educator.
Born in North Carolina, she studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, receiving her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with renowned artists Leon Fleisher and Walter Hautzig. She continued her artist studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold and Schubert Institute in Vienna with legendary artists of the 20th century including Günther Weissenborn, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Andre Navarra, Jörg Demus, Dalton Baldwin, Jost Michaels and Bruno Giuranna.
Ms. McKenzie’s performance career has taken her into the concert halls and music festivals of over 40 countries where she has been featured as solo recitalist, chamber music partner and collaborative pianist in such prestigious halls and international festivals as the Schubert Festival-Kassel, Avingnon’s Festival du Provence, Frankfurt’s Hindemith Salle & Alte Oper, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, New York’s Kaufman Music Center & Merkin Recital Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, New York. She has been heard in live and recorded performance broadcasts throughout Europe and the US including WDR West German Radio Köln, Hessische Rundfunk Frankfurt, BBC London, Radio France-Paris, RTBF-Brussels, WGBH Boston and American Public Media’s Performance Today. She has won many international competitions and awards as soloist and chamber player, including First Prize, International Chamber Music Competition, Paris; Young Concert Artist Guild Competition, New York; Third Prize International Brahms Competition Hamburg; and the Peabody Conservatory Prize in Piano and Young Artist Auditions, Baltimore.
Selected by the National Endowment for the Arts, she served as a musical ambassador for the US State Department and has been presented in concerts and guest lectureships in the former Soviet Union, North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
She co-founded the American Music Festival in 1990, and served as Artistic Director for more than 30 years.
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