Season 101: Opening Night!
Saturday, November 3, 2018, 8 pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 7:15 pm with the conductor
Memorial Hall, Melrose
The Melrose Symphony opens its 101st Season with two evocative orchestral showpieces inspired by Russian film and ballet, as well as Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic and timeless Piano Concerto No. 2.
Concert Program:
Prokofiev - Lieutenant Kijé Suite
Stravinsky - Firebird Suite (1919)
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2, Michael Lewin, pianist
About the Soloist
Michael Lewin is one of America’s most active and popular concert pianists, bringing charisma, emotive intensity and high-wire virtuosity to audiences in over 30 countries. His career was launched with victories in the Franz Liszt International Competition, the American Pianists Association Award and the William Kapell International Piano Competition. His numerous recordings have won a Grammy Award and a Round Glass Music Award.
Lewin’s orchestral appearances include the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony, China National Radio Orchestra, Bucharest Philharmonic, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, State Symphony of Greece, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and the Phoenix, Indianapolis, Miami, North Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, New Orleans, Colorado, Guadalajara, and Puerto Rico Symphonies. Recital appearances include New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theatre, Holland’s Muziekcentrum, Moscow’s Great Hall, the Athens Megaron, the National Gallery of Art, the Ravinia and Spoleto Festivals and on PBS Television. His extensive repertoire includes over 40 piano concertos, with particular interest in the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and American and Latin American composers.
Mr. Lewin’s discography includes “Beau Soir” and “Starry Night,” piano music of Debussy including both Books of Préludes, “Piano Phantoms,” “If I Were a Bird,” the complete piano music of Charles Griffes, Scarlatti Sonatas, “Michael Lewin plays Liszt,” “A Russian Piano Recital,” "Bamboula!" piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and the Bolcom Violin Sonatas with Irina Muresanu. They are available on Naxos, Centaur and Sono Luminus.
Michael Lewin is Professor of Piano at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, gives master classes worldwide, directs the Boston Conservatory Piano Masters Series and has mentored many prize-winning pianists. He is a Juilliard School graduate and a Steinway Artist. His own teachers included Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefebure, Adele Marcus and Irwin Freundlich.
