Michael Lewin is internationally applauded as one of America’s most abundantly gifted and charismatic concert pianists, performing to acclaim in over 30 countries with orchestras, in recital and as a chamber musician.
Commanding a repertoire of 40 piano concertos, Lewin’s international orchestral engagements include the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Cairo Symphony, Bucharest ‘Enescu’ Philharmonic, China National Radio and Film Orchestra, Filharmónica de Guadalajara, State Symphony of Greece, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, the Boston Pops, the Symphonies of Phoenix, Indianapolis, Miami, Colorado, Nevada, West Virginia, Illinois, North Carolina, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Jupiter Symphony, He has given world premieres of two piano concertos by David Kocsis, and performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” over 50 times. He has collaborated with conductors including Carlos Miguel Prieto, Keith Lockhart, Constantine Orbellian, Anton Kersjes, Seymour Lipkin, Theo Alcantara, Ian Hobson, Sergei Babayan, Maximiano Valdés and Hugh Wolff.
The New York Times hailed his New York recital debut in Lincoln Center in 1984, writing that “his immense technique and ability qualify him eminently for success.” Since then, his tours have taken him to New York’s major concert halls, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium, the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington, Moscow’s Great Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theater, Taipei’s National Concert Hall, the Opera Houses of Cairo and Wilmington, the Athens Megaron, Holland’s Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, and London’s Wigmore Hall. Festival appearances include Spoleto, the International Keyboard Festival in NY, Peter the Great in Holland, MusicFest Perugia in Italy, Euro Arts in Germany and Vivace Vilnius in Lithuania. His popular PBS Television recital with Schubert’s “Wanderer Fantasy” and Chopin works hosted by Victor Borge was widely rebroadcast. He has been the featured interview in Clavier and Piano & Keyboard Magazines, and edited piano music of Griffes for C.F.Peters. A Steinway Artist, he was Artistic Director of the Steinway & Sons 150th Anniversary Gala Concert held in 2003 in Boston’s Symphony Hall. His dedication to contemporary music has led to premiere performances of compositions by Joel Hoffman, David Kocsis, Sylvia Rabinof, Robert Chumbley, Andy Vores and John Harbison. Among the composers with whom Mr. Lewin is particularly associated are Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, Liszt and Griffes.
Michael Lewin’s career was launched with victories in the Liszt International Competition in the Netherlands, the William Kapell International Competition, and the American Pianists Association Fellowship. He has been awarded major career grants from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalists Fund and the Aaron Copland Recording Fund.
Lewin’s extensive discography has received extraordinary critical praise, and reflects the great scope of his musical interests. He now records exclusively for Sono Luminus. His third CD for Sono Luminus (2014) is an all-Debussy disc entitled “Beau Soir,” consisting of the Préludes Book II and eight other works. It will be followed in Jan. 2015 by another Debussy disc to include the Préludes Book I and Estampes. His first release for Sono Luminus, “If I Were a Bird,” a diverse collection of bird-themed pieces, received a Grammy nomination in the “Producer of the Year” category. It was followed by “Piano Phantoms” (2013), music inspired by ghosts, goblins, phantoms and the spirit world.
“Bamboula!,” piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, earned a Boston Herald “Year’s Top 10 Pick”, while the Boston Globe enthused that “Lewin has the chops and the charm for these pieces.” For Naxos he has recorded a best-selling collection of 20 Scarlatti Sonatas and the first-ever complete piano music of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes in two volumes. Mr. Lewin’s earlier recordings on Centaur include “Michael Lewin plays Liszt,” “A Russian Piano Recital,” featuring music of Scriabin, Glazunov and Balakirev, and the four Violin and Piano Sonatas of William Bolcom with violinist Irina Muresanu.
One of America’s most sought-after teachers, he has mentored many prize-winning pianists and is a frequent judge at International Piano Competitions. He is currently a member of the Piano Faculty at The Boston Conservatory, where he also directs the Piano Masters Series. Born in New York, he is a graduate of the Juilliard School. His own teachers included Leon Fleisher, Irwin Freundlich, Adele Marcus, and Yvonne Lefébure.
For more information please visit www.michaellewin.com
