Michael Stephen Brown

Michael Stephen Brown (born 1987 in Oceanside, NY) is an American classical pianist and composer.

Biography

Brown is the recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant,^[1] 2018 Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center,^[2] and the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Competition.^[3] Brown has performed as soloist with the Seattle,^[4] Grand Rapids, North Carolina, Maryland and Albany symphony orchestras,^[5] and at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, the Smithsonian,^[6] Alice Tully Hall,^[3] and the Gilmore Festival. He is an artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a former member of CMS Two (now known as The Bowers Program).^[7] He regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Nicholas Canellakis.^[8][9][10] He has received commissions from many organizations and some of today’s leading artists, and recently toured his own Piano Concerto around the US and Poland with several orchestras.

Brown is also a composer^[6][11][12] and is the recipient of the 2018 Copland House Residency Award.^[13] He is a recipient of a 2025 MacDowell fellowship in music composition.^[14]

Brown is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald, and composition with Samuel Adler (composer).^[15]

Works

List of compositions by Michael Stephen Brown^[16]

Year	Title	Instrumentation
2020	Concerto for Piano and Strings	Piano and Orchestra
2021	Merging Pods	Orchestral
2021	American Diaries	Orchestral
2022	Vortex	Cello and String Orchestra
2013	Violin Sonata	Violin and Piano
2016	Reflections	Piano Trio
2017	Prelude and Dance	Cello and Piano
2018	Garden Quartet	Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano
2018	Relationship	Clarinet and piano
2021	Twelve-Blocks	Piano Four-Hands, with Spoken Poetry
2024	The Lotos-Eaters	Flute, Cello, Piano, Percussion
2024	Spinning Song	Cello and Piano
2024	Sigh (after Mallarmé)	Violin and Piano
2015	After Three Statues	Mezzo Soprano and Piano
2017	Dearest Friend	Soprano, Baritone, Piano
2023	Loves Lives Lost	Soprano and Piano
2025	Pas de trois	Soprano, Viola, Piano
2012	Suite for Solo Cello	Cello
2013	Chant	Piano Four-Hands
2016	Surfaces	Piano
2020	Etude Fantasy on the Name of Haydn	Piano
2024	Four Lakes, Four Children	Piano
2024	Breakup Etude for the Right Hand Alone	Piano

References

1. "The Avery Fisher Career Grants | Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts". www.aboutlincolncenter.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
2. "Press Release | Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts". www.aboutlincolncenter.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
3. Kozinn, Allan (2012-04-11). "Michael Brown Performs George Perle Piano Rarity at Weill". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
4. May, Thomas (January 6, 2017). "At Seattle Symphony, cosmic radiation from Beethoven and Messiaen". The Seattle Times.
5. "Biography". Sciolino Artist Management. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
6. Rucker, Patrick. "Pianist-composer Michael Brown celebrates Bernstein". The Washington Post.
7. "Michael Brown | The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center". www.chambermusicsociety.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
8. Giuliano, Mike. "Classical with a sense of humor". Howard County Times. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
9. Joan, Reinthaler (January 24, 2015). "Cellist Nicholas Canellakis, pianist Michael Brown at Wolf Trap Barns". The Washington Post.
10. "At Olympic Music Festival, a cellist with a 'thirst' for comedy". The Seattle Times. 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
11. Allen, David (August 18, 2014). "Not Quite 76 Trombones, but More Than Usual". The New York Times.
12. "Opera & Classical Music Listings for May 2–8". The New York Times. 2014-05-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
13. BWW News Desk. "Copland House Announces 2018 Residency Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
14. MacDowell (2025). "MadDowell Artists, Michael Stephen Brown". Retrieved September 2, 2025.
15. "Michael Brown – Pianist". www.operamusica.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
16. Brown, Michael. "Michael Stephen Brown, Composer-Pianist, Compositions". Retrieved September 2, 2025.