Musicians who play the

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

are known as

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

s. This list includes post 19th-century harpsichordists. Notable earlier harpsichordists mostly appear on the

list of Baroque composers Composers of the Baroque era, ordered by date of birth: Transition from Renaissance to Baroque (born 1500–1549) Composers in the Renaissance/Baroque transitional era include the following (listed by their date of birth): * Philippe de Monte ( ...

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Abraham Abreu Abraham Abreu (born 1939, Caracas) is a Venezuelan harpsichordist and pianist . He earned a Masters of Music from Yale University in harpsichord and piano performance before becoming an internationally celebrated concert performer. He has made appe ...

Isolde Ahlgrimm Isolde Ahlgrimm (31 July 1914 in Vienna – 11 October 1995 in Vienna) was an Austrian harpsichordist and fortepiano, fortepianist. In 1975 she was awarded the Austrian Gold Medal. Musical education Ahlgrimm pursued her early piano studies f ...

* Benjamin Alard *

Rinaldo Alessandrini Rinaldo Alessandrini (born 25 January 1960) is a virtuoso on Baroque music, Baroque Keyboard instrument, keyboards, including harpsichord, fortepiano, and organ (music), organ. He is founder and conductor of the Italian early music ensemble Concer ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Bob van Asperen Bob van Asperen (born 8 October 1947, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch harpsichordist, early keyboard instrument performer and conductor. He graduated in 1971 from the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he studied the harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt and the ...

Emilie Autumn Emilie Autumn Liddell (born September 22, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, author, and violinist. Autumn's musical style is described by her as "Fairy Pop", "Fantasy Rock" or "Victoriandustrial". It is influenced by glam rock and ...

Valda Aveling Valda Rose Aveling (16 May 192021 November 2007) was an Australian pianist, harpsichordist and clavichordist. Her repertoire was very wide, including composers as diverse as William Byrd, Jan Sweelinck, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Béla Bartók ...

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Enrico Baiano Enrico Baiano (Naples, October 2, 1960) is an Italian harpsichordist and fortepianist, known on the international stage as a virtuoso and strict interpreter of early music. Biography He graduated in piano and composition at Conservatorio San ...

Ivor Bolton Ivor Bolton Ivor Bolton (born 17 May 1958) is an English conductor and harpsichordist. Early life and education Bolton was born in Blackrod, Greater Manchester, England. He studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn and Clare C ...

* Michael Borgstede *

Hendrik Bouman Hendrik "Henk" Bouman (born 29 September 1951, in Dordrecht) is a Dutch harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and composer of music written in the baroque and classical idioms of the 17th and 18th century. Biography In the late '70s, Hendrik ...

Bradley Brookshire Bradley Brookshire (born 1959) is an American-born harpsichordist. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan School of Music (in Music History and Musicology), his Master of Music from Mannes College in New York City (Hist ...

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Nellie Chaplin The Chaplin Trio was a trio of musicians: sisters Eleanor Mary (or Nellie) Chaplin, pianist and harpsichordist; Kate Chaplin, violinist and player of the viola d'amore; and Mabel Chaplin, cellist and player of the viola da gamba. They are particula ...

Elisabeth Chojnacka Elisabeth Chojnacka (born Elżbieta Ukraińczyk; 10 September 1939 – 28 May 2017) was a Polish harpsichordist living in France. She was one of the world's foremost harpsichordists specializing in the performance of contemporary harpsichord mu ...

* William Christie * Elaine Comparone *

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

Mónica Cosachov Monica Cosachov (born 7 September 1946) is an Argentine harpsichordist, pianist and composer. She also serves as a visiting professor at universities and research centers internationally. Background Cosachov was born in Buenos Aires and studied c ...

Alan Cuckston Alan George Cuckston (2 July 1940 – 22 March 2025) was an English harpsichordist, pianist, conductor and lecturer. He recorded for the BBC, especially on historic instruments. Cuckston was the harpsichordist in the 1968 Proms concert of Mont ...

Laurence Cummings Laurence Alexander Cummings (born 1968) is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. He is music director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Biography Cummings was born in Birmingham and educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford ...

* Alan Curtis

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Ottavio Dantone Ottavio Dantone (born 9 October 1960) is an Italian conductor and keyboardist (primarily harpsichord and fortepiano) particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has been the music director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna sin ...

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971) was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie, he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-World W ...

Fernando De Luca Fernando De Luca (born 1961 in Rome) is an Italian harpsichordist, organist, teacher and composer. Biography Fernando De Luca began his musical studies at a very young age, devoting himself first to the organ, then to the piano, obtaining h ...

Huguette Dreyfus Pauline Huguette Dreyfus (30 November 1928 – 16 May 2016) was a French harpsichordist. Biography Dreyfus was born in Mulhouse, Alsace, France, on 30 November 1928 to Fernand and Marguerite Dreyfus. The doctor incorrectly wrote Pauline Huguet ...

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Richard Egarr Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player. Biography Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar of ...

Mahan Esfahani Mahan Esfahani () (born 1984 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American harpsichordist. Education Esfahani received his first guidance on the piano from his father before exploring an interest in the harpsichord as a teenager. He studied musicology and ...

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* Nicolau de Figueiredo *

Céline Frisch Céline Frisch (born 1974) is a French harpsichordist. Life Born in Marseille, Frisch began studying the harpsichord at the age of six. In 1992 she received her first prizes in harpsichord and chamber music at the Conservatory of Aix-en-Provence ...

* Albert Fuller

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Anne Gallet Anne Gallet is a Swiss harpsichordist and musicologist. Gallet was born in Geneva. At the age of 20 she won the first prize for virtuosity at the Conservatoire de Genève in the class of Isabelle Nef. Subsequently, she studied at the Wiener Mus ...

Martin Galling Martin Galling (born 1935 in Halle (Saale)) is a German pianist, harpsichordist and chamber musician. Galling first took cello lessons and studied the piano from 1945 at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory of Mainz with Louise Wandel. He studied at th ...

Lorenzo Ghielmi Lorenzo Ghielmi (born in Milan on 1 September 1959) is an Italian organist and harpsichordist. He teaches old music at the ''Accademia Internazionale della Musica'' in Milan and at the " Schola Cantorum Basiliensis" in Basel. He was professor in ...

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December16, 1931April15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under Yvonn ...

Lillian Gordis Lillian Gordis, born on July 12, 1992, in Berkeley, California, is an American-born harpsichordist who moved to France when she was 16. Biography Lillian Gordis began studying the harpsichord at age 9 with Katherine Roberts Perl and then Arthur ...

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* Malcolm Hamilton *

Pierre Hantaï Pierre Hantaï (born 28 February 1964, Paris) is a French harpsichordist and conductor. Career The son of painter Simon Hantaï, he discovered the music of Johann Sebastian Bach when he was ten and first heard Gustav Leonhardt's recordings wh ...

* Barbara Harbach *

Ketil Haugsand Ketil Are Haugsand (born 13 June 1947) is a Norwegian harpsichordist and conductor. He was born in Oslo. Biography Haugsand started his musical studies in Trondheim and Oslo, and later studied in Prague and Haarlem. In 1973, he earned his solo ...

Anton Heiller Anton Heiller (15 September 1923 – 25 March 1979) was an Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer and conductor. Biography Born in Vienna, he was first trained in church music by Wilhelm Mück, organist of Vienna's Stephansdom (St. Stephen ...

* Robert Hill * Asako Hirabayashi *

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English Conducting, conductor, harpsichordist, and Musicology, musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on h ...

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Eileen Joyce Eileen Alannah Joyce CMG (1908–1991) was an Australian pianist whose career spanned more than 30 years. She lived in England in her adult years. Her recordings made her popular in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly during World War II. At h ...

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Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

Rudolf Kelber Rudolf Kelber (born 1948, Traunstein, Germany) is a German organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and church musician. Biography Rudolf Kelber began his musical education at high school in Nuremberg State Conservatory and received instruction in ...

Ralph Kirkpatrick Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick (; June 10, 1911April 13, 1984) was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings. Life an ...

Igor Kipnis Igor Kipnis (September 27, 1930January 23, 2002) was a German-born American harpsichordist, pianist and conductor. Biography The son of Metropolitan Opera bass Alexander Kipnis, he was born in Berlin, where his father was singing with the Berl ...

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael "Ton" Koopman (; born 2 October 1944) is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He is a professor ...

Nicholas Kraemer Nicholas Kraemer (born 7 March 1945, in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British harpsichordist and conductor. Career Kraemer began his career as a harpsichordist. From playing continuo (on a harpsichord) at the back of an orchestra he proceeded to ...

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Marcelle de Lacour Marcelle may refer to: *Marcelle, a French feminine version of Marcel Given name * Marcelle Auclair (1899–1983), French novelist, biographer, journalist and poet * Marcelle Arnold (1917–2010), French film, stage and television actress * M ...

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in t ...

Cosimo Damiano Lanza Cosimo Damiano Lanza (born 12 April 1962) is an Italian pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Biography Born in Leporano, Southern Italy, his artistic training was developed under the leadership of distinguished teachers, for the piano Michele ...

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

Raymond Leppard Raymond John Leppard (11 August 1927 – 22 October 2019) was a British-American conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the ...

* Christiana Lin *

Giedrė Lukšaitė-Mrázková Giedrė Lukšaitė-Mrázková (born 1944) is a Lithuanian–Czech harpsichordist and organist. Lukšaitė was born to the family of educator and cultural historian Meilė Lukšienė in Kaunas, Lithuania. She studied the organ and piano at the Mu ...

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Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

Nicholas McGegan James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert. Biography McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He subse ...

* George Malcolm * Alessandro De Marchi *

Sylvia Marlowe Sylvia Sapira (September 26, 1908 in New York City – December 11, 1981) was an American harpsichordist who performed and recorded under the name Sylvia Marlowe. She performed both the Baroque repertoire as well as contemporary compositions by com ...

Béatrice Martin Béatrice is a French feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Béatrice Bonifassi (born ), French-born vocalist * Béatrice Dalle (born 1964), French actress * Béatrice de Camondo (1894–1944), French socialite and a Hol ...

* Mitzi Meyerson *

Francis Monkman Anthony Francis Keigwin Monkman (9 June 1949 – 12 May 2023) was an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. Life and career ...

* Patrick Montan *

Domenico Morgante Domenico Morgante (Monopoli, 1956) is an Italian musicologist, organist and harpsichordist. Biography Graduated and specialized Cum Laude in Musicology, Organ, Harpsichord, Educational Sciences, he was a student of Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, G ...

Davitt Moroney Davitt Moroney (born 23 December 1950) is a British-born and educated musicologist, harpsichordist and organist. His parents were of Irish and Italian extraction – his father was an executive with the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate. F ...

Lars Ulrik Mortensen Lars Ulrik Mortensen (born 9 November 1955) is a Danish harpsichordist and conductor, mainly of Baroque solo music, chamber music and early music repertory. He was a professor in Munich in 1996–99 and has since then been artistic director of ...

Oscar Milani Oscar Milani (born November 24, 1946, in Rosario, Argentina), is an Argentine musician. A Bariloche Foundation scholarship holder, he went to Buenos Aires to specialize; harpsichord, chamber music, and interpretation on early keyboard instruments. ...

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Nikolaus Newerkla Nikolaus Philipp Newerkla (; born 1974 in Horn, Austria) is a harpsichordist, arranger and conductor. He began his musical career by studying piano at the University of Music in Graz under Eike Straub. Inspired by his long-standing teacher, the ...

* Anthony Newman *

Hervé Niquet Hervé Niquet (born 28 October 1957) is a French conductor, harpsichordist, tenor, and the director of Le Concert Spirituel, specializing in French Baroque music. Biography Born on 28 October 1957, Hervé Niquet was raised at Abbeville in ...

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* Temple Painter * Joseph Payne * Martin Pearlman *

Yella Pessl Yella Pessl (originally Gabriella Elsa Pessl; January 5, 1906 – December 9, 1991) was an American harpsichordist, pianist and organist. Life She was born in Vienna in 1906; she studied there at the State Academy of Music, and later performed in ...

Daniel Pinkham Daniel Rogers Pinkham Jr. (June 5, 1923 – December 18, 2006) was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Early life and education Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, into a prominent family engaged in the manufacture of patent medicines ( ...

Trevor Pinnock Trevor David Pinnock (born 16 December 1946 in Canterbury, England) is a British harpsichordist and conductor. He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert, which he helped found and direct ...

Rafael Puyana Rafael Antonio Lázaro Puyana Michelsen (14 October 19311 March 2013) was a Colombian harpsichordist. Puyana was born in Bogotá in 1931, and began piano lessons at age 6 with his aunt and at age 13 made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Bogot� ...

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Mario Raskin Mario Raskin (born 1951) is an Argentine harpsichordist. He was born in Buenos Aires and lives in Paris, France. Background Raskin was born in Buenos Aires, and studied music at the National Conservatory of Buenos Aires. He developed an inter ...

* Karl Richter *

Jean Rondeau Jean Rondeau may refer to: * Jean Rondeau (racing driver) (1946–1985), French automobile racer and constructor * Jean Rondeau (musician) Jean Rondeau (born 23 April 1991) is a French harpsichordist and pianist. He was taught by Blandine Ver ...

Scott Ross Scott Ross may refer to: * Scott Ross (film executive) (born 1951), Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Digital Domain (1993–2006); pioneer in digital entertainment * Scott Ross, interviewer for ''The 700 Club'' with ties to various 1960s and 1970s roc ...

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

Gilbert Rowland Gilbert Rowland (born 1946 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish harpsichordist. His father was second in command to the Viceroy of India during the days of the British Raj. He studied at the Royal College of Music, under Millicent Silver, and made ...

Zuzana Růžičková Zuzana Růžičková () (14 January 1927 – 27 September 2017) was a Czech harpsichordist. An interpreter of Classical music, classical and Baroque music, baroque music, Růžičková was the first harpsichordist to record Johann Sebastian Bach' ...

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* Byron Schenkman *

János Sebestyén János Sebestyén (2 March 1931 – 4 February 2012) was a Hungarian organist, harpsichordist, pianist and journalist. Biography János Sebestyén was born in Budapest, where both of his parents were prominent musicians and educators. His fath ...

Liselotte Selbiger Elisabeth Charlotte Ida (Liselotte) Selbiger (1906–2008) was a German-born Danish musician who initially performed in chamber music and played the cello in a Berlin orchestra. Instructed by the Polish celebrity Wanda Landowska, she later specializ ...

Skip Sempé Skip Sempé (born 1958 in New Orleans) is an American harpsichordist and conductor of the ensemble Capriccio Stravagante. Selected discography * Lully: divertissements - highlights from tragédie lyrique This is a glossary list of opera genre ...

Luciano Sgrizzi Luciano Sgrizzi (30 October 1910 – 11 September 1994) was an Italian harpsichordist, organist, pianist and composer. Life and career Luciano Sgrizzi was born in Bologna on October 30, 1910. His father, Domenico Sgrizzi, was a postal worker wh ...

Millicent Silver Millicent Irene Silver (17 November 19051 May 1986) was an English harpsichordist, who began her career as a pianist and violinist. Early life Born in South London, her father, James Brand Silver, was a violinist and oboist, and had been a b ...

Heather Slade-Lipkin Heather Slade-Lipkin (9 March 1947 – 16 October 2017) was an English pianist, harpsichordist and teacher. Biography Slade-Lipkin was born into a musical family from Hoylake, Wirral. She began formal piano lessons before the age of six and m ...

Andreas Staier Andreas Staier (born 13 September 1955 in Göttingen) is a German pianist and harpsichordist. Life Staier studied piano and harpsichord in the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover and Amsterdam. He studied piano with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase, a ...

Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for whi ...

Simone Stella Simone Stella is an Italian harpsichordist, organist, pianist, composer and producer. Recordings * 2009: Georg Friedrich Händel, ''Suites for harpsichord, book 1'', 2 CD, OnClassical (OC33-34B). * 2011: Dietrich Buxtehude, ''Complete Har ...

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Colin Tilney Colin Graham Tilney (31 October 1933 – 17 December 2024) was a British-Canadian harpsichordist, fortepianist and teacher. He is well known for his historically-informed approach to performance practice, performing on original or copied ins ...

Yann Tiersen Yann Pierre Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations, and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical ...

Rosalyn Tureck Rosalyn Tureck (December 14, 1913 – July 17, 2003) was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. However, she had a wide-ranging repertoire that included works by composers ...

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Fernando Valenti Fernando Valenti (New York, New York, 4 December 1926 – Red Bank, New Jersey, 6 September 1990) was an American harpsichordist. After studying with José Iturbi and Ralph Kirkpatrick and débuting in 1950, he recorded extensively, especially in ...

Jos Van Immerseel Jos Van Immerseel (born 9 November 1945) is a Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and Conducting, conductor. Van Immerseel studied Pipe organ, organ, piano and harpsichord at the Antwerp Conservatory under Flor Peeters, Eugène Traey and harpsicho ...

Blandine Verlet Blandine Verlet (27 February 1942 – 30 December 2018) was a French harpsichordist and a harpsichord teacher, who is known internationally for her recordings of works by François Couperin. Career Born in Paris into a musical family of art hist ...

Robert Veyron-Lacroix Robert Veyron-Lacroix (13 December 1922 in Paris – 2 April 1991 in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine)) was a French harpsichordist and pianistPâris, Alain. Robert Veyron-Lacroix. In: ''Dictionnaire des interprètes''. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, ...

Jory Vinikour Jory Vinikour (born May 12, 1963 in Chicago) is an American born harpsichordist. He has been living in Paris since 1990, where he studied on a scholarship from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert. Vinikour ...

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Helmut Walcha Arthur Emil Helmut Walcha (27 October 1907 – 11 August 1991) was a German Organ (music), organist, harpsichordist, music teacher and composer who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German Baroque music, Baroque masters. Blind since h ...

Peter Watchorn Peter Watchorn (born 30 May 1957) is an Australian-born harpsichordist who has combined a virtuosic keyboard technique, musical scholarship and practical experience in the construction of harpsichords copied from original instruments of the 17th ...

Guy Whatley Guy Richard Whatley (born 1975) is an American organist and harpsichordist. He is a specialist in medieval keyboards, sixteenth and seventieth century European music, and nineteenth century German organ music. He is widely known as a continuo play ...

Blanche Winogron Blanche Winogron (May 8, 1911 – November 22, 2002) was an American harpsichordist, pianist, virginalist, and teacher. She taught at the Mannes College of Music from 1961 to 1969, and the New England Conservatory of Music from 1968 to 1977. Her s ...

Ernst Victor Wolff Ernst Victor Wolff (August 6, 1889 – August 21, 1960) was a German-born concert pianist and harpsichordist, who maintained a career not only as a soloist but also as a respected accompanist. Singers with whom he performed included Dorothy May ...

Violet Gordon-Woodhouse Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (23 April 18729 January 1948) was a British keyboard player. She specialised in the harpsichord and clavichord, and was influential in bringing both instruments back into fashion. She was the first person to record the h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpsichordists

Harpsichordists Musicians who play the harpsichord are known as harpsichordists. This list includes post 19th-century harpsichordists. Notable earlier harpsichordists mostly appear on the list of Baroque composers. A * Abraham Abreu * Isolde Ahlgrimm * Ben ...