Mr. Shannon’s repertoire ranges from Bach to Boulez but he has been particularly noted for his performances of twentieth century American composers. He has commissioned and premiered works by John Harbison, Charles Wuorinen, Tod Machover, Donald Erb, and George Crumb, among others. His recordings of solo and violin sonatas of Charles Ives (with long-time duo partner Gregory Fulkerson) have received rave reviews. He has been involved in expanding the repertoire for
Disklavier interfaced with other media, which represents a whole new gamut of sounds and textural possibilities for a single performer.

In recent years Mr. Shannon has performed in London, Hamburg and Stuttgart, Caracas, Houston, San Francisco, Milwaukee and Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, New York, and Seoul. He often performs in duo recitals with his wife and faculty colleague Haewon Song, and as part of the George Crumb Ensemble.

Mr. Shannon is Director of the Thomas and Evon Cooper Competition. This unique event combines master classes and concerts by Oberlin professors and special guest faculties, lectures by prominent musicologists and an international competition for high school students, with concerto finals in Severance Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition, Mr. Shannon often serves as a judge of various American competitions such as the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Concert Artists Guild of New York Competition, and the Sorantin and Wideman Competitions.

Mr. Shannon graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1967 where he studied with Klaus Goetze and Lod Crofoot. He received degrees from Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jack Radunsky, and from the Juilliard School where his teacher was Ania Dorfmann. He also worked with Vladimir Ashkenazy and studied with Dorothy Taubman.