Michael Mizrahi

"So singular was their approach that you wanted to download the concert immediately - and hope this temporary trio becomes at least semipermanent."
— Philadelphia Inquirer, May 5, 2015

"...the duo seemed entirely of one mind and the music was enthralling."
— Washington Post, May 12, 2015

On Friday, May 1, I’ll be returning to Bargemusic, Brooklyn’s acclaimed “floating concert hall” (concerts take place on a barge floating in the East River!). I’ll be playing a recital featuring some old favorites (Beethoven, Bartók) and some new works that I’ll be recording for my next solo album to be released in 2016. You can find details, including information on how to buy tickets, here.

On Sunday, May 3, I’ll be in Philadelphia to perform on Astral Artists’ Center City concert series. I will join forces with my wonderful colleagues Kristin Lee and Clancy Newman for a concert of piano trios by Beethoven, Ravel, and Dan Visconti. More information is here.

On Sunday, May 10 (Mother’s Day!), violinist Kristin Lee and I will give a duo recital at the stunning Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. The Phillips is a beautiful space in which to perform (or attend a concert!), and we are offering a dynamic program of violin/piano duos by Ravel, Beethoven, Webern, and Copland. More information on that concert is here.

Finally, in non-concert news, I'm excited to unveil a new YouTube channel containing some recent live performances, as well as a new media page on my website. Happy spring!

I am thrilled to have been named one of five international recipients of the S&R Foundation's 2014 Washington Award! As a Washington Award winner, I will perform in a gala concert in Washington, DC on Saturday, May 30, 2015. More details appear in this press release.

This was Claude Frank’s approach to playing the piano, to music, to life. He radiated a love of not only all that was beautiful, but all that had the potential to be beautiful. Right away, in that first lesson, I truly felt that he believed I was in the latter category. Our lessons became inspirational searches for the towering beauty present in Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and through those endless searches we would find the potential for beauty in ourselves. When he played, he embodied the very essence of the music he was playing to a degree that I had never heard before and have not heard since. Some of the best playing I have heard in my life came from his short, casual demonstrations of passages in works I was studying (I am still trying to figure out exactly HOW he played those sforzandos in the opening theme of the third movement of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto so perfectly; a demonstration of the opening of Brahms’ Intermezzo Op. 116 no. 4 on an out-of-tune grand at Ravina’s Steans Institute brought tears to my eyes).

In turn, he was deeply affected by others’ performances of great music – a Schubertiade at Boris Berman’s house visibly shook Mr. Frank, especially after we all chose the slowest, most depressing Schubert lieder to sing and play. Mr. Frank always said to us “Great music is better than it can be played.” Those words, as well as his comments about beauty, continually inspire me in my playing and teaching, and to a large degree are responsible for the path I have followed over the past decade. However, hearing Mr. Frank play Schubert’s last piano sonata, or Beethoven Op. 109, or the Schumann Arabeske, it is hard to imagine great music being played any better. We will miss him dearly.

I'm excited to announce the details of my upcoming California Tour! I'll be giving recitals in Long Beach (December 4), San Diego (December 5), and San Francisco (December 7), featuring premieres of new works by Mark Dancigers, Patrick Burke, Missy Mazzoli, Judd Greenstein, and Asha Srinivasan, as well as Beethoven's towering Appassionata Sonata and Bartók's Eight Improvisations. More details appear in today's New Amsterdam Presents press release.