ABOUT KENNY SCHAFER

Kenneth Schafer (b. 2000) is a composer, pianist, and music educator based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He holds a BMA in composition from Oberlin Conservatory where his teachers included Elizabeth Ogonek, Jesse Jones, and Michael Frazier. He attained his M.M. in composition from LSU School of Music where he studied composition under Brian Nabors and Mara Gibson and piano under Willis Delony and Liliia Oliinyk. His music combines influences from a wide array of styles including Impressionist, Latin, jazz, Baroque, African, and pop music. Schafer’s music demonstrates a strong passion for the great composers of the Western Classical Canon while maintaining an artistic voice that is contemporary. His Malawian Symphony 3rd Movement was performed by the Baton Rouge Civic Orchestra and he has had excerpts from his 24 Preludes performed in Seoul, South Korea by pianist Unhi Kim. His next major project will be the recording of his pop album School Days, an album that deeply explores the conflict between the independent spirit of a passionate individual and confining reality of being forced to attend school. He currently works as a piano teacher at Rockin' Mozart Academy and Grace Notes School of Music.