[1] Kennicott was raised in Schenectady, New York, where he studied piano with composer and pianist Joseph Fennimore.
Kennicott is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic, where he wrote articles on classical music, and has served as a reviewer and columnist for Gramophone.
Kennicott's critically acclaimed first book, Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning,[8] was praised by the Wall Street Journal as "a book full of arresting insights about the way music permeates our lives, as well as heartbreaking reflections on the wounds a parent can inflict on a child.
"[9] He has also contributed introductions to Richard Giannone's Music in Willa Cather's Fiction and Renato Mirraco's Oscar Wilde's Italian Dream 1875-1900.
Kennicott is a frequent participant in national and international symposia, including the Aspen Ideas Festival,[10] the CATO Institute,[11] and the World Justice Forum IV[12] in the Hague.