Draft:Michele Levin

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Michele Levin
Born1945 (age 80–81)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Alma materCurtis Institute of Music (Dip.) (MM)
OccupationsClassical pianist, composer
Notable workPiano Sonata (age 12), String Quartet No.1 (2007), Quintet for Bassoon and String Quartet
AwardsFirst Prize, Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition (Washington, D.C.)

Michele Wendlyn Levin (born 1945) is an American classical pianist and composer based out of New York City,[1][2] renowned for her interpretations of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.[3]

As an orchestral soloist, she has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra,[4] Boston Pops Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and many more,[5][6] regularly touring throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. The Curtis Institute of Music lists her as a notable alum,[7] and she was described as "a highly musical pianist" by Bernard Holland in The New York Times.[8]

Early Life

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Levin was born in Miami, Florida in 1945, and her father, Dr. Herbert Levin, was a dentist. She showed prodigious talent from a young age, picking out tunes at the piano from the age of three, and composing began soon after. Lessons began at the age of 6.[9]

In 1955, her family traveled to Philadelphia on the pretense of publishing her compositions, resulting in Efrem Zimbalist giving her a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 11 as a double major in both piano and composition.[9][10] At Curtis, she studied piano with Eleanor Sokoloff, chamber music with Vladimir Sokoloff,[11] and composition with Vittorio Giannini.[12]

Professional Career

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After winning a special composition competition award put on by the Philadelphia Orchestra for her 14-page Piano Sonata at the age of 12, she made her concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Robin Hood Dell (now the Mann Center for the Performing Arts), where she performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the age of 13.[13] Levin subsequently received her diploma in piano performance (1963) and was the first women to receive a master's degree in composition from Curtis in 1965.[1]

File:Michele Levin performing with the Pro Musica Orchestra.png
Levin performing J.S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 with The Pro Musica Orchestra in 2018

During her time at Curtis, her compositions included theThree Reflections for Baritone, which included music set to the poems The Constant Lover, The Time of Snow, and Ride a Wild Horse. It was premiered by baritone William Workman and the composer at the piano. Her Trio for piano, violin and, cello is in three movements: Allegro comodo, Lento In Memoriam of John F. Kennedy, and Allegro agitato. This work was premiered in 1964 by violinist Sergiu Luca, cellist Russell Smith, and Levin at the piano.[12]

During Curtis, she won the First Prize at the Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition, Washington, D.C. in 1964, beating out pianists from 14 countries.[3] Her win was one of 8 that received mention in TIME Magazine for supporting women in classical music competitions.[14] Other past prize-winners have included Angela Hewitt, Paul Posnak, Yoheved Kaplinsky,[15] Chen Pi-hsien,[16] and Mia Chung.[17] Afterwards, she performed as a soloist at the Boston University Bach Festival with members of the Boston Symphony, in which she maintained a lasting relationship.[18]

She gave a tribute concert for pianist Lili Kraus, of which her Steinway was donated for the event. Kraus's daughter was in attendance.[19]

Throughout her career, she has extensively collaborated with violinists Joseph Silverstein,[7][20][21] Ruggerio Ricci,[22] Peter Zazofsky,[23] Nina Beilina,[8] Julia Sakharova,[24] Steven Ansell, Mark Kaplan,[22] Sergiu Luca,[12] Donald Weilerstein,[22] Ik-Hwan Bae,[22] Ida Levin,[22] Arve Tellefson,[22] Andrew Dawes,[22] and Yehonaton Berick;[22] with violists Rivka Golani,[25] Paul Neubauer,[22] and Atar Arad;[22] and with cellists Yehuda Hanani, Simca Heled,[22] Ronald Thomas,[22] and Wolfgang Boettcher.[22] She has performed with clarinetists Eli Eban[22] and Charles Neidich;[26] with harpist Heidi Lehwalder;[22] and with flutists Carol Wincenc[27] and Eugenia Zuckerman.[22] She has additionally performed with fellow pianists, including with Steven De Groote and Frank Cooper in a recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.7 with the Miami Chamber Orchestra in 1983.[28]

The Israeli cellist Yehuda Hanani has recorded many acclaimed albums with her, including Schubert/Schumann for Cello and Piano,[29][30] and Dazzle and Nostalgia.[31] Together, they also made one of the only historic LPs of Leo Ornstein's Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano, Op. 52, which signed them to Koch International.[32] These recitals have been extensively reviewed by journalists including Tim Smith in the Sun Sentinel and The Baltimore Sun.[33][34][35] She records for Koch International, EcoClassics, Altarus, and the Canadian Broadcasting Companies.[36] and her playing has been regularly featured on NPR.[37][38]

She is known for her collaborations with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, having performed with vocalists Gwendolyn Bradley,[36] Marvis Martin,[36] Martina Arroyo,[36] D’Anna Fortunato,[36] Carol Farley,[36] Lucy Shelton,[36] Judy Drucker,[39] and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen.[40][41][42]

Levin has been an artist in residence and toured with the internationally acclaimed Arianna String Quartet,[36] Miami Quartet,[43] and Muir Quartet,[44] which premiered her String Quartet No.1 in 2007,[45] as well as her Quintet for Bassoon and String Quartet.[7] Both pieces were commissioned by St. Timothy's Summer Music Festival, which premiered work by Paul Chihara, Jessie Montgomery, Chris Brubeck, Joan Tower and Levin exclusively;[46] she gave the world premiere of Tower's quartet White Granite.[47]

References

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