Micah McLaurin is an American pianist.

Micah McLaurin
Born (1994-10-03) October 3, 1994 (age 29)
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)Classical Pianist
Instrument(s)Piano
WebsiteMicahMcLaurin.com

Biography edit

Born in Charleston, SC,[1] Micah began playing piano at the age of eight, when his grandmother gave his family her old piano. He started lessons with Marsha Gerber, and later continued studying in Charleston with Enrique Graf.[1] At 18, he was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music,[2] where he received his bachelor's degree in 2018, studying with Robert McDonald and Gary Graffman. He then completed his master's degree at the Juilliard School[3] with Jerome Lowenthal and Yoheved Kaplinksy.

He was a winner of the 2016 Gilmore Young Artist Award,[4] an award given every two years to the two most promising pianists in the country, age 22 and younger. As part of the prize, he commissioned Stephen Hough to write his "Piano Sonata No.4", which at Micah's request, quotes Charles Trenet's "En Avril a Paris".[citation needed] He has also won top prizes in the Ettlingen International Competition,[5] the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition,[6] the 2011 Hilton Head International Piano Competition,[7] and the Verbier Festival Tabor Prize.

In 2018, Micah made his Philadelphia Orchestra[8] debut, performing Bernstein's Age of Anxiety as part of the Bernstein Centennial Celebration concert.[1] He performed again with the Philadelphia Orchestra that year, playing Gershwin's Concerto in F at the Mann Center. He has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra,[9] Charleston Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and with orchestras in Montevideo, El Salvador, and Italy. He was engaged to debut with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in 2020,[10] but the concert was canceled due to COVID-19.

Micah made his Lincoln Center recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in 2019,[11] presented by the Musicians Emergency Fund. He also gave a guest performance at the 2019 Youth America Grand Prix Gala[12] at David Koch Theater. As a recitalist, he has performed in The Miami International Piano Festival,[13] the Verbier Festival,[14] the Aspen Music Festival,[15] La Societa dei Concerti di Milano,[16] The Gilmore Keyboard Festival,[17] Piccolo Spoleto Festival,[18] Jeudis du Piano in Geneve,[19] Les Pianissimes in Paris,[20] The Raleigh Paderewski Festival,[21] the Chopin Foundation of Miami,[22] Music Fest Perugia, and others.

Among his collaborators are conductors and musicians Joann Falletta, Joshua Weilerstein, Jahja Ling, Nicholas McGegan, Ken Lam, Orli Shaham, and Anthony Roth Costanzo.[citation needed]

Micah has released two recordings - an album of live performances titled "Micah McLaurin Live" in 2020,[23] and in 2021 released his studio album "Chopin".[24]

He has appeared in media publications such as WWD,[12] Paper Magazine,[25] Resident Magazine,[26] Pluton Magazine,[27] and others.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Academy Artists". Music Academy. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  2. ^ Voices, Curtis Young Alumni (March 13, 2021). "Micah McLaurin (Piano '18)". Medium.
  3. ^ https://www.juilliard.edu/sites/default/files/juilliard_commencement_program_5-22-20_a19_print_2.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ "The Gilmore Young Artist Award | Celebrating Promising Young Pianists". The Gilmore.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2021-10-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Top Three Finalists Named in the 2012 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition". Oberlin College and Conservatory. April 29, 2019.
  7. ^ "Hilton Head International Piano Competition". yamm.finance.
  8. ^ Dobrin, Peter. "The Philadelphia Orchestra goes all-Gershwin". www.inquirer.com.
  9. ^ "Micah McLaurin Archives".
  10. ^ "South Carolina Public Radio Partners With Spoleto Festival USA For 'Spoleto At Home' Initiative". South Carolina Public Radio.
  11. ^ https://donyc.com/events/2019/6/1/mef-presents-pianists-adam-golka-and-micah-mclaurin-in-joint-recital
  12. ^ a b Tauer, Kristen (April 19, 2019). "Youth America Grand Prix Gala Celebrates 20th Anniversary Season".
  13. ^ "Miami International Piano Festival: The Magic of Opera Arias & Piano Masterpieces | Miami Art Guide". October 14, 2019.
  14. ^ "Graines de star à l'Académie de Verbier". Le Temps. August 4, 2017 – via www.letemps.ch.
  15. ^ Steiman, Harvey (16 July 2018). "Aspen Music Festival review: Daniil Trifonov's piano concerto overwhelms". www.aspentimes.com.
  16. ^ "Micah McLaurin | Fondazione La Società dei Concerti".
  17. ^ "2016 Gilmore Festival: Micah McLaurin".
  18. ^ "2012 College of Charleston Young Artists Series (Piccolo Spoleto) | College of Charleston SCHOOL OF THE ARTS". blogs.cofc.edu.
  19. ^ "Go Out! N°47 décembre 2016 - janvier 2017". Issuu. 10 December 2016.
  20. ^ "Micah McLaurin en récital aux Pianissimes – Musique d'abord – Compte rendu". Concertclassic. January 22, 2017.
  21. ^ "CVNC - Fourth Paderewski Festival Opens with the Mesmerizing Musicality of Micah McLaurin". cvnc.org.
  22. ^ "Miami's Chopin Foundation ups the ante for the best American pianists". Knight Foundation.
  23. ^ "Micah McLaurin Live" – via Amazon.
  24. ^ "Chopin". August 1, 2021 – via open.spotify.com.
  25. ^ "Coolest Person in the Room: Micah McLaurin". PAPER. December 27, 2019.
  26. ^ "Resident Magazine NY MAY 2019_JEAN SHAFIROFF". issuu. 2 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Enfant de Charleston, Micah McLaurin, un jeune pianiste prometteur. – Pluton Magazine".

External links edit