Early Keyboard Institute
(1/17/23) UPDATE: Due to unforseen circumstances, the UMEKI Program for 2023 has been cancelled. Check back in Fall 2023 for information on the 2024 UMEKI Program.
The University of Michigan Early Keyboard Institute (UMEKI) is an intensive six-day experience focused on early keyboard performance offering a distinguished faculty, daily lectures, participation in solo and collaborative masterclasses, and concerts by both faculty and students.
The workshop is open to all keyboard players regardless of their specific experience with early instruments. Primarily intended for collegiate-level musicians, UMEKI also welcomes amateurs and young professionals. The University of Michigan has a large collection of harpsichords and fortepianos for both practice and performance by workshop participants.
Program Dates: Check back in Fall 2023 for information on the 2024 UMEKI Program.
Program Tuition: Check back in Fall 2023 for information on the 2024 UMEKI Program.
Faculty
![Joseph Gascho](https://smtd.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Gascho_Joe_IndexImage.jpg)
Joseph Gascho
Associate Professor of Music
Harpsichordist Joseph Gascho joined the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance’s Department of Organ in September 2014 as an assistant professor. Gascho enjoys a multifaceted musical career as a solo and collaborative keyboardist, conductor, teacher, and recording producer. Featuring his own transcriptions of Bach, Handel, and Charpentier, his recent debut solo recording was praised in the American Record Guide for “bristling with sparkling articulation, subtle but highly effective rubato and other kinds of musical timing, and an enviable understanding of the various national styles of 17th and 18th century harpsichord music.”
![Matthew Bengtson](https://smtd.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Bengtson_matthew_IndexImage.jpg)
Matthew Bengtson
Assistant Professor of Music
Critically acclaimed as a “musician’s pianist,” Matthew Bengtson has a unique combination of musical talents ranging from an extraordinary pianist, to a composer, analyst, and scholar of performance practice, and thus is in demand as both soloist and collaborator. Highly regarded as a performer on early pianos, hsi students took the top two prizes at the inaugural SFZP International Fortepiano Competition in New York
![Nicole Keller](https://smtd.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Keller_Nicole_IndexImage.jpg)
Nicole Keller
Assistant Professor of Music / University Organist
Nicole Keller is in demand as a concert artist, adjudicator, and clinician. She has concertized in the States and abroad in venues such as St. Patrick Cathedral, New York; Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Paris; Dom St. Stephan, Passau; St. Patrick Cathedral, Armagh, Northern Ireland; and The Kazakh National University for the Arts, Astana, Kazakhstan. Ms. Keller specializes in eclectic programs suited to instrument and audience with a desire to expand the listener’s horizons, pairing familiar sounds and genres with less familiar ones. Her performances with orchestras includes concertos, works for small chamber orchestra, and large works involving organ, harpsichord, and piano.
![Peter Sykes](https://smtd.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Sykes_Peter_IndexImage.jpg)
Peter Sykes
Lecturer
Peter Sykes is a member of the organ department faculty at the University of Michigan, a core faculty member and principal instructor of harpsichord at the Historical Performance Department of the Juilliard School in New York City, and at Boston University, where he teaches both organ and harpsichord. A founding board member and president of the Boston Clavichord Society as well as past president of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, he is the recipient of the Chadwick Medal and Outstanding Alumni Award from the New England Conservatory, the Erwin Bodky Prize from the Cambridge Society for Early Music, and the Distinguished Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation.
2024 UMEKI Program Information
INSTITUTE THEME: Information for the 2024 UMEKI Program will be posted in Fall of 2023. Check back then for more details!
Application Requirements & Resources
Application information and requirements for the 2024 UMEKI Program will be posted in Fall 2023. Check back then for more details!
Contact Us
Office of Engagement & Outreach-Youth & Adult Programs
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Stearns Building │ 2005 Baits Drive │ Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734) 936-2660
Email: [email protected]