Craig Sheppard is Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard at the School of Music of the University of Washington in Seattle.  Born and raised in Philadelphia, a graduate of both the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, he studied with Eleanor Sokoloff and Sasha Gorodnitzki.  He also worked with Rudolf Serkin and Pablo Casals at the Marlboro Festival, and with Ilona Kabos, Peter Feuchtwanger and Sir Clifford Curzon in England.  He won the Silver Medal in the 1972 Leeds Competition, and also earned top prizes in the Busoni, Ciani and Rubinstein competitions. He made his home in London from 1973-93.

Sheppard’s repertoire is eclectic, comprising nearly fifty recital programs and over sixty concerti.  He has performed on multiple occasions with all the major orchestras in Great Britain, and many on the European continent and throughout America, with conductors Sir Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, Aaron Copland, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen.  As collaborative artist, he has worked with Ida Handel, Wynton Marsalis, Victoria de los Angeles, José Carreras, and many others.  He has recorded over thirty CDs for Romeo Records in New York, and is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the annual Seattle Piano Institute.