Peter Sheppard Skaerved

Violinist Peter Sheppard Skӕrved stands out for his deep engagement with new music, having received the dedication of more than 400 compositions. At the same time his interests reach far earlier, encompassing the Baroque period, where he has earned recognition for his performances on historical instruments.

He entered the world in 1966 as Peter Sheppard and later assumed the compound surname Sheppard Skærved after marrying the writer Malene Skærved. Recalling his path in conversation with The Cross-Eyed Pianist, he described a freezing walk home from school at around age twelve, when he resolved that there certain extremely ambitious things which I wanted to do with music. Already during his late teens he began forming partnerships with major composers, among them Hans Werner Henze. Additional collaborators have included George Rochberg, Judith Weir, and Michael Finnissy, while an extended association with Thomas Simaku has continued across more than a decade.

An avid chamber musician, Sheppard Skӕrved established and directs the Kreutzer Quartet and has appeared with Ensemble Triolog; he also maintains duo partnerships with pianists Aaron Shorr and Jan-Philip Schulze as well as fortepianist Julian Perkins. Although contemporary works occupy much of his attention, he maintains a broad repertory that extends to the Baroque era, performing that music on a 1698 Stradivarius formerly owned by Joseph Joachim and on violins by Nicolò Amati and Andrea Amati. In the United States he has presented recitals at the Library of Congress, drawing on instruments from the institution’s own collection.

With more than seventy recordings to his name, he ranks among Britain’s most active recording artists, releasing on Metier, Toccata Classics, Naxos, and other labels in a catalogue as varied as his concert programs. In 2020 he joined Julian Perkins for an Athene release of Schubert’s three sonatas for violin and piano of 1816. Sheppard Skӕrved serves as a lecturer in performance and a fellow at the Royal Academy of Music.