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The American pianist, organist and composer Charles Berofsky, began piano lessons when he was 6 years old; his primary piano teachers have been Logan Skelton and John Ellis. He has also studied composition with Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and David Liptak, harpsichord with William Porter, and organ with Scott Van Ornum. He studied at School at Huron High School in Ann Arbor (2014-2018). Currently (since August 2018; expected gaduation in May 2022), he is an undergraduate student at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, studying piano with Alan Chow and composition with Robert Morris as a double major.
In January 2020 Charles Berofsky became one of the youngest students to win a concerto competition at Eastman, performing L.v. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra in February. He has received two composition prizes from his school as well as a recent commission from the American Guild of Organists. He also performed J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in F minor (BWV 1056) with a student orchestra in December 2018. Other awards include honorable mention in the New York MTNA competition (Young Artist Division), first prize in the Chicago College of Performing Arts Young Composer Competition, first prizes in the Dearborn and Dexter Youth Artist Concerto Competitions, and first prize in the Rosalie Edwards Youth Artists Competition.
Charles Berofsky has attended various summer music festivals in past years, including Orford, Bowdoin, Brevard, and Interlochen, and has performed internationally in Italy and Canada. He has also given several recitals at Glacier Hills Senior Living Community in Ann Arbor and composed an original score to a short film, Midwestern, directed and produced by students at the University of Michigan. While a student at Huron High School in Ann Arbor,he actively participated in the school’s Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Band, and Jazz Band. He performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Huron ensembles and he composed a piece for the Huron string orchestra, Repose, which was performed on the school’s 50th anniversary concert in January 2018. During the 2017-2018 school year (September 2017-June 2018) he served as one of the regular organists for St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor and was the main accompanist for the church choir. He enjoys playing collaboratively with other musicians, especially members of his family, and has frequently accompanied peers at Eastman. |
