Henry was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. His mother, coloratura soprano, Diane Penning gave him an early appreciation for music and art, beginning with piano lessons around age 4. Growing up, Henry took music very seriously, as he studied piano, saxophone, and bassoon, and later competed in festivals and competitions across the state.
Henry double-majored in Jazz Saxophone Performance and Classical Bassoon Performance at Western Michigan University (rated as one of the top 10 jazz programs in the country) and graduated with a Bachelors in Music. He participated in 11 different university ensembles, including Gold Company, the internationally renowned vocal jazz group, led by Steve Zegree.
After graduating, Henry moved to New York City in 2011 to pursue a career in music. As a pianist he quickly began playing piano for cabaret and theater, and as a saxophonist performing with a variety of different bands of many genres.
In 2013, Henry took comedy improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade. He quickly became involved with the NYC comedy community as a music director, accompanist, and composer.
From 2014-2018, Henry worked as an accompanist and piano bar pianist at venues all over the city, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Club Cumming, Town Hall, Joe’s Pub and many more (see list below). He has music directed hundreds of cabarets, comedy shows, concerts, and more in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, and other North American cities. He also did six sold-out performances of his solo show “Halo Pop” at The Duplex, and recently debuted his new show “Magic Elf Lord” at Joe’s Pub, both directed by Michael Pesce.
In 2021, Henry moved to Los Angeles, CA. He still frequently performs and collaborates with Larry Owens, Matt Rogers, Greta Titelman and Matteo Lane. He music directs and performs with film and TV star Alan Cumming, NPR's Ari Shapiro and English supermodel Karen Elson.
He co-composed, music directed, arranged and played all the music for Catherine Cohen’s show “The Twist… She’s Gorgeous” which won “Best Newcomer” at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, and is now a Netflix special, coming out March 15, 2022.
He co-composed, music directed and arranged the music for Matt Rogers’ show “Have You Heard of Christmas” which is available to stream on Showtime. Look forward to a full album of this show next December (2023)!
He writes and records original music under the artist name, "Henki Skidu." He released an experimental EP (Nightwalk) in March 2022, and released a full ambient album (LUCIA) on December 27, 2022.
Since then, Henki has played with traditional pop and rock sounds, releasing several singles leading up to his “dreamy folk-rock” album due to drop in December of 2024.
In addition to piano, he professionally performs and records on saxophone and accordion. He has appeared on The Late Show with Seth Meyers, the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and performs in the feature film, “Paper Spiders” starring Lili Taylor. He has written and performed two solo shows, “Halo Pop” and “Magic Elf Lord”, both directed by Michael Pesce.
ARTISTS HENRY IS PROUD TO HAVE WORKED WITH:
Alan Cumming, Vanessa Williams, Chita Rivera, Ari Shapiro, Kristin Chenoweth, Ayo Edibiri, KT Tunstall, Catherine Cohen, Matteo Lane, Bowen Yang, Karen Elson, Joel Kim Booster, Melissa Villaseñor, Larry Owens, Matt Rogers, Cole Escola, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, Sasheer Zamata, John Early, Liza Treyger, Naomi Ekperigin, Natalie Walker, Elaine Paige, Michelle Collins, Brandon Scott Jones, Tom Wopat, Arthur Meyer, Greta Titelman, Kiko Soiree, Marla Mindelle, Colleen Ballinger, Mary Houlihan, Tim Murray, Lulu Krause, Sarah Dooley, Bridget Everett, Alexis Michelle, Drew Droege, Amy Jo Jackson, Larry Owens, Peter Smith, Erin Markey, Pat Regan, Tessa Skara, Maya Deshmukh, Brendan Scannell, Matt Hashimoto, Julie Klausner, Christi Chiello, Mitra Jouhari, Dave Mizzoni, Julio Torres, Max Wittert, Alyssa Stonoha, Philip Markle, Iliana Inocencio, Jeff Hiller, Sudi Green, Mo Fry Pasic, Sandy Honig, Joél Perez, Michael Hartney, Kate McKinnon, Tessa Hersh, Sophie Santos, Jo Firestone, Phoebe Strole, Hannah Solow, Blake Daniel, Shannon O’Neill, Michael Musto, Lily Cooper, Murray Hill, Ludwig Wicki, and Lea Delaria.