Michael Brown (Michael Brown), Piano

Biography

Michael Brown, hailed as a “vividly characterized and rhythmically free-spirited” pianist by The New York Times, is the First Prize Winner of the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Noted for his “great confidence and rhythmic flair” by Gramophone, he has appeared in many major venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space.  Mr. Brown has appeared as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall under the baton of New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert and has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival.

This season, Mr. Brown will give recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of the CAG Winners Series, the Gilmore Festival’s Rising Stars Recital Series (Kalamazoo, MI), Market Square Concerts (Harrisburg, PA) and the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock. He also will perform Beethoven's Third Concerto with the New Haven Symphony on their season opener, collaborate with the Linden String Quartet at the Krannert Center and Purdue Convocations and tour with violinist Elena Urioste.

He performs regularly with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and has appeared with “Musicians from Ravinia” on tour with violinist Miriam Fried including performances at Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series and the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston.  He was the featured American pianist at the Kyoto International Music Festival in Japan. Other performances included a recital at Caramoor Music Festival and chamber music at the Olympic Music Festival and the New Orleans Friends of Music Series.

Recently, he was the recipient of 2011 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award, a prize in which some of the past winners include composer Ned Rorem and pianist Robert Levin.  Mr. Brown is a two-time winner of The Juilliard School’s Gina Bachauer Competition, a prize awarded annually for the two most outstanding pianists in the school.  His “arresting ideas” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) have won him top awards in the Juilliard Concerto and Munz Competitions as well as the Raeburn Award for Artist of Special Promise from the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition. Recent festival appearances include Music@Menlo, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Pianofest in the Hamptons, and the Beijing International Music Festival.

In addition to performing regularly as a pianist, Mr. Brown is also an accomplished composer. He was awarded the 2009 Palmer-Dixon Prize from Juilliard, an award given to the most outstanding piece composed in that academic year.  His works have been performed at the Tanglewood Music Festival, Le Poisson Rouge and the Curtis Institute by various ensembles including ACJW, the NEW Trio and The Juilliard Orchestra.  He was the 2008 Composer in Residence for Pianofest in the Hamptons where he was commissioned to write a two-piano piece celebrating their 20th Season and his works have been featured on David Dubal’s “Reflections from the Keyboard” on WQXR.  He is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).

A native of Long Island, Mr. Brown attended the Juilliard School completing dual bachelor and master of music degrees majoring both in Piano and Composition.  He studied with pianists Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald, and composers Samuel Adler and Robert Beaser.  Additionally, Mr. Brown has worked with Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Adam Kent, George Perle and Richard Goode.