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Hank Skolnick
About Henry
Hank (Henry) Skolnick was a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in Miami for 18 years and taught bassoon and wind chamber music at Florida International University during his time in Miami. He has been on the summer faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp since 2004. In addition to his years in the Florida Philharmonic, he has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, The Boston Symphony, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, The Palm Beach Opera, the Kansas City Symphony, The Colorado Symphony, the Miami Chamber Symphony, the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra Berlin. He currently serves as Co-Principal bassoon of Sinfonia da Camera, a chamber orchestra in residence at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Skolnick was one of the first performers to adopt the Contraforte, a newly redesigned contrabassoon now widely used in major orchestras around the world. On the baroque and classical bassoon, he performs with The Kingsbury Ensemble and Collegium Vocale St. Louis. His recordings can be heard on the Deutsche Gramophone, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, Albany, Parma and Innova labels. Skolnick is the Associate Librarian of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
I focus on each student’s unique learning style and partner with them to develop mastery of performance on their instrument and to integrate that into their broader life. The discipline over the long term required by music performance is a powerful suite of skills that applies to academic and personal success. I work to guide each student on their own path from where they are and to reveal a bigger and more detailed picture of where they might go.
- Joined the American Federation of Musicians at age 15
- Won a tenured position in a major orchestra while an undergraduate student
- Graduated with a B.M. degree “cum laude”
- Won a fellowship for academic achievement to do a M.M. degree
- Did pioneering work as a soloist on the contrabassoon in the 1980s and beyond
- Contributed to the development of the Contraforte, and was one of the first performers to convert to the instrument
- Gained certification as a teacher in Missouri for both instrumental and choral music
- Founded two music publishing houses, and has done music editorial work for several other publishers
B.M., Bassoon Performance - University of Miami
M.M., Bassoon Performance - University of Miami