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Michael Sellers

BIO:

Michael Sellers is an internationally acclaimed pianist known for a strong and commanding presence, temperament, exceptional virtuoso equipment with a warmly personal, spacious and poetic style of performance. Sellers has presented premieres of many new works, among them "Touches" by Leonard Bernstein. A number of these works were written for and dedicated to him. A seasoned artist, Sellers has built a universal repertoire that reflects his eclectic tastes and interests: Bach and Scarlatti to Stravinsky's "Petrouchka" and Bartok, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. to the impressionists and contemporary composers.

Mr Sellers' annual tours which have taken him to most of the European countries, South America and throughout the United States and Asis, have included concerts at Queen's Hall in Edinburgh, Sir Henry Wood Hall in Glasgow, Wigmore Hall in London and the Musikverein in Vienna. These have won for him enthusiastic audiences, re-engagements and critical reviews.

His recordings for Orion Records under the auspices of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation have received wide recognition and acclaim including a "Recording of Special Merit" accolade from Stereo Review. He has made a number of recordings for New York's WQKR and WNYC in addition to Los Angeles' KFPK and KUSC and many others. A new CD has just been issued on Whisper Films label: "Michael Sellers: Live from San Francisco"

In November 1999, he made a most successful 17th European tour, where he played recitals in Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Highlights were a recital at Budapest's Liszt Museum in Liszt's own concert hall where Liszt gave master classes and which opens up to his last Hungarian residence; also a private concert in Chopin's birth home at Zelazowa Wola. Some of these concerts were filmed for TV. He gave a number of master classes in Italy and Poland and his concerts in Poland were particularly successful, prompting one critic to say "he played Chopin in a truly Polish style with wonderful nuances and colors"

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Michael Sellers was the recipient of the Rudolph Ganz Scholarship Award, a Rockefeller grant to study at the Aspen Music School and a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music.

He earned degrees of Northwestern University and the Manhattan School of Music and received a certificate from the Moscow Conservatory for his participation in a series of master classes given by Mikhail Voskressensky and Halina Czerny-Stefanska. His teachers have been Rudolph Ganz, Aube Tzerko, Mario Feninger, Nina Scolnik and Marc Steiner. He worked in the compositional and theoretical areas with Dane Rudhyar, Karol B. Jirak and Ingolf Dahl.  

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PRESS:

At home throughout the world.
-Saarbrucken: Saarbrucker Zeitung

A great pianist ... playing in a grand style (and) with plenty of character.
-Brussels News

Clearly a virtuoso.
-Frankfurt: Allegeine Zeitung

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MORE INFORMATION:

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JACK PRICE RADIO SHOW FEATURE:
Pianist Michael Sellers speaks with Jack Price
about Stars of American Pianism