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Harrison Sheckler (born April 23, 1996) is an American classical pianist, composer, actor, and virtual choir conductor.
Early life
Sheckler was born in Rochester, MN and grew up in Charles City, IA, and began playing piano at age of 6 and violin at age 8. In 2014, he won the Terrace Hill Endowment for the Musical Arts Competition, broadcast on Iowa public television. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and earned a Masters of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. Sheckler is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Arizona.
Career
On Oct. 7th, 2021, Sheckler's orchestration of Jeffrey Biegel's piano piece Reflections of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg was premiered by the Dallas Symphony as part of their concert honoring the late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The program also included the premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg for voice, piano, and orchestra which featured American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and pianist Jeffrey Biegel.
Sheckler has had a multifaceted career as a pianist, composer, and educator. He served as a visiting professor of piano at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa during the Winter semester of 2021, and again for the 2023–2024 academic year. Currently, he is an adjunct instructor of piano at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. In addition to his academic roles, Sheckler is the director of music at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Olathe, Kansas, where he oversees the music program for multiple weekend services.
Virtual choir
In March 2020, Sheckler launched the Virtual Choir Project Covid-19 by asking fellow musicians and amateur singers to send him vocal recordings of the show tune “You'll Never Walk Alone",” from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. He thought the lyrics of the song fit the need to stay positive during the coronavirus crisis. He contacted every high school choir director in Iowa to recruit students to participate as well as friends and colleagues. He received 240 vocal submissions and 60 instrumental accompaniments from 15 countries, including Germany, Israel, South Africa, and Vietnam. Sheckler spent 200 hours combining 300 videos into one piece while making it sound like an orchestral arrangement. The recording was released on YouTube on May 1, 2020, and went viral, eventually securing more than 1.5 million views, and is one of the top 20 virtual choir recordings on the site. Online collaborations and virtual choir projects, including "You'll Never Walk Alone," have been described as part of the soundtrack of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July 2020, Sheckler contacted former major league baseball pitcher and musician Bronson Arroyo to participate in a virtual choir recording of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Current and former players, including Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen, as well as announcers and other baseball personalities, were among the final 200 participants in the choir.
In January 2024, Sheckler collaborated with the legendary singer Gloria Gaynor to release a new gospel music video titled "Talkin' 'Bout Jesus." The song, featured on Gaynor's Grammy® award-winning album "Testimony (Gloria Gaynor album)," celebrates themes of hope and spiritual resilience. The collaboration was highlighted by the Sheckler Virtual Choir, an innovative approach by Sheckler that brings together vocalists from around the world through technology, creating a unified musical performance despite physical distances.
The project included contributions from featured vocalist Kymberli Joye, musicians Elise Trouw, Anna Sentina, Sophie Giuliani, Harrison Sheckler, Steven Alesso, Grace Kelly (musician), and The Brass Twins, along with 60 choir members from across the USA. This ensemble created a rich tapestry of sound that embodied the spirit of gospel music. The music video's release coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, underscoring its message of hope and unity.