"The [Chopin] F minor forms a test for the complete musician: bold, finger-challenging runs in the outer two movements; introspective, emotional writing in the middle, slow movement. Working listeners into a frenzy by the end of the work, Lewin graciously calmed unsettled nerves with a contemplative etude as an encore."
Boston Herald

"Piano soloist Michael Lewin played authoritatively and successfully captured the bravura evidently intended by Menotti's dramatic music.
Chicago Star

"The pianist played them excitingly, reaching the highest pitch in the music's brilliant climax.... Lewin was given a warm ovation after his scintillating performance."
The Indianapolis Star

"Lewin, considered to be one of the world's top interpreters of Liszt, was splendid, treating the audience to a dazzling afternoon not likely to be soon forgotten. He challenged the orchestra to rise up and play beyond their mortal capabilities."
Las Vegas Sun

"Lewin was brilliant. He gave vent to the theatricality of the Menotti with a flair for the dramatic that never got out of hand. Lewin's performance was high drama mixed with superb taste. Even more impressvie were the pianist's moments with all those more intimate notes he so impeccably played with such dazzling virtuosity."
Reno Gazette-Journal

"He plays with what looks like a feather-light touch, but the notes explode from the piano... He demonstrated an intellect to drive the technique. His playing in the opening movement mashalled all the seething drama of the music without sacrificing the clarity of Mozart's intricate inner part-writing... he played with stunning brilliance."
The Charleston Gazette
 

Michael Lewin enjoys a distinguished international reputation as one of the most important American concert pianists of his generation. He performs worldwide as orchestral soloist, in solo recital, and as a chamber musician.

Mr. Lewin’s 2003-04 orchestral engagements include the Rhapsody in Blue with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, Liszt’s Totentantz with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara and the Liszt Festival Orchestra under Ian Hobson, and Haydn Concertos with the Boston Virtuosi and the Orquesta da Cámara of Puerto Rico. He will play recitals in the U.S., Canada and in the Czech Republic. He will also appear often in recital with violinist Irina Muresanu in the new Lewin-Muresanu Duo. For more information visit his website at http://www.michaellewin.com.

His career was launched with victories in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in the Netherlands (1986), the American Pianists Association Beethoven Award (1983) and the University of Maryland’s William Kapell International Competition (1982). Both the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts have awarded him significant career grants.

Mr. Lewin made a notable New York recital debut in Lincoln Center in 1984, on which occasion the New York Times wrote that "his immense technique and ability qualify him eminently for success." His solo performances since then have taken him to such venues as New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium, the Library of Congress, the Great Hall in Moscow, Hong Kong's City Hall Theater, Taipei's National Concert Hall, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, Wilmington's Grand Opera House, the American College of Greece, the Opera House of Cairo, the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Holland and the Spoleto Festival. Recent orchestral engagements include the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Symphonies of Phoenix, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Colorado, Nevada, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and New York’s Jupiter Symphony. He performs over 35 different piano concertos. In 2000 Lewin gave the world premiere of the David Kocsis Concerto for the New Millenium. His popular PBS Television recital hosted by Victor Borge has been aired often throughout the United States. In addition, Mr. Lewin is an active chamber musician and frequent festival guest artist.

Michael Lewin’s recordings on Naxos, Marco Polo and Centaur have won extraordinary critical praise, and reflect the great breadth of his musical passions. His newest release is Bamboula! Piano Music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.. Bamboula! was chosen as a 2002 Top 10 Pick by the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe enthused that "Lewin has the chops and the charm for these pieces."

Recent releases on Naxos include a collection of 19 Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and the first-ever complete recordings of the piano music of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes (in two volumes). Mr. Lewin's earlier recordings, Michael Lewin Plays Liszt and A Russian Piano Recital featuring music of Scriabin, Glazunov and Balakirev, are available on Centaur.

A native New Yorker, Michael Lewin is now Chairman of the Boston Conservatory Piano Faculty and Artistic Director of the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music, earning Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. His teachers have included Leon Fleisher, Irwin and Lillian Freundlich, Adele Marcus, and Yvonne Lefébure. He was the featured interview in Clavier Magazine’s March 2002 issue, and has written for Piano & Keyboard. During the 2002-03 season Mr. Lewin will be heard throughout the U.S., in Canada, Latin America and in Taiwan. He is the Artistic Coordinator of the Steinway Artists Gala Celebration Concert in Boston's Symphony Hall commemorating Steinway's 150th anniversary.