Michael Lewin. Photo courtesy Liz Linder Publicity.
"He’s a top-notch pianist with a national reputation, great discography and outstanding music educator," says David Korevaar, professor of piano at the CU-Boulder College of Music. "We are pleased and fortunate to have him perform and present a master class."
Commanding a repertoire of 40 piano concertos, Lewin's 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 and the Sinfonia da Camera. He has premiered 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, Ian Hobson, Sergei Babayan, Maximiano Valdés, Hugh Wolff, Anton Kersjes and Seymour Lipkin.
The New York Times proclaimed that “his immense technique and ability qualify him eminently for success” after his Lincoln Center debut. His tours have since taken him throughout North America as well as Moscow’s Great Hall, Hong Kong's City Hall Theater, Taipei's National Concert Hall, China's Poly Theatres, the Opera House of Cairo, the Athens Megaron, Holland’s Muziekcentrum Vredenburg and London’s Wigmore Hall. Lewin's popular PBS television recital hosted by Victor Borge featuring the Schubert “Wanderer Fantasy” and Chopin Etudes 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.
A devoted chamber musician, he was Artistic Director of the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players and played in the Lewin-Chang-Díaz Trio and the Lewin-Muresanu Duo. He has premiered music by Joel Hoffman, David Kocsis, Sylvia Rabinof, Robert Chumbley, Andy Vores and John Harbison. Composers with whom Mr. Lewin is particularly associated include Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, Liszt and Griffes.
Lewin’s recordings have garnered extraordinary critical praise. An exclusive Sono Luminus recording artist, his new all-Debussy disc "Beau Soir" features the Préludes Book II and eight other works. 2015 will bring another Debussy album, "Starry Night," including the Préludes Book I and Estampes. "Piano Phantoms" (2013) was a wide-ranging collection of music inspired by ghosts, goblins, phantoms and the spirit world. His first SL disc “If I Were a Bird,” a popular collection of bird-themed pieces, received a Grammy nomination in the "Producer of the Year" category. His Naxos recordings include a best-selling collection of 20 Scarlatti Sonatas and a landmark set of the complete piano music of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes. Mr. Lewin's recordings on Centaur include “Michael Lewin plays Liszt," “A Russian Piano Recital,” (Scriabin, Glazunov and Balakirev), “Bamboula!" piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and the Violin Sonatas of William Bolcom with violinist Irina Muresanu.
Lewin’s career was launched by winning top prizes in the Liszt International Piano Competition in the Netherlands, the William Kapell International Competition and the American Pianists Association Fellowship. Other recognitions include the National Endowment for the Arts Recitalists Grant, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Award and the Aaron Copland Recording Grant.
One of America’s most sought-after teachers, Lewin has taught many prize-winning pianists, presents master classes worldwide and is a frequent international competition judge. He is currently a member of the piano faculties at The Boston Conservatory and Boston University, and artistic director of the Conservatory’s Piano Masters Series. Born in New York, he studied at the Juilliard School. His teachers were Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefébure, Adele Marcus and Irwin Freundlich.
For more information please visit www.michaellewin.com
Michael Lewin
Concert: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, Grusin Music Hall
Master Class: 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, Grusin Music Hall
Information: korevaar@colorado.edu or 303-492-6256
Program:
Beau Soir (Beautiful Evening) arr. Koji Attwood Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Nuits d’étoiles (Starry Night) arr. Koji Attwood
Sonata-Fantasy No. 2 in G-sharp minor, op. 19 Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Andante
Presto
Fantasy in C Major, D.760 (“Wanderer Fantasy”) Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
Adagio
Presto
Allegro
Intermission
12 Preludes, Book 1 Debussy
