Michael Stephen Brown

Michael Stephen Brown has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” His artistry is shaped by his creative voice as a pianist and composer, praised for his “fearless performances” (The New York Times) and “exceptionally beautiful” compositions (The Washington Post).

Winner of a 2018 Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center and a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, he is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and an alum of CMS's Bowers Program. He is a regular artist with the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach and performs frequently with orchestras such as the National Philharmonic, the Seattle, Grand Rapids, North Carolina, and Albany symphonies. He has appeared at the Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, Marlboro, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, and Bard music festivals and tours with his longtime duo partner, cellist Nicholas Canellakis.

A prolific composer, Miachel performed his Concerto for Piano and Strings (2020) with the Kalamazoo, Maryland, and Wichita symphony orchestras. He was the composer and artist-in-residence at the New Haven Symphony for the 2017-19 seasons and a 2018 Copland House Award winner. He is the First Prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition and earned degrees in piano and composition from The Juilliard School.

A native New Yorker, he lives there with his two 19th century Steinway grand pianos, Octavia and Daria. He will not reveal which is his favorite, so as not to incite jealousy. In his spare time, he learns Italian, carves stumps into coffee tables, and plays a lot of Mendelssohn.