The young American pianist Michael Lu’s lifelong desire is to convey a powerful spiritual message to every listener through thoughtful interpretations of great masterpieces. He is receiving recognition for his performances not only from music critics but also from great artists of our time – from Eduardo Delgado and Alexander Toradze to Murray Perahia and Maria João Pires, both of whom personally invited the young artist to participate in their masterclasses and workshops. In addition to possessing an unusually wide range of standard repertoire, Michael’s solo, chamber music, and concerto repertoire includes a large number of masterpieces by living and neglected composers such as Beach, Carreño, Clarke, Dett, Hailstork, Higdon, Kaprálová, Price, Reubke, Sheng, Silvestrov, Walker, and Walton, among many others.
Upcoming performances
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Michael will hold a series of intimate online mini-recitals to celebrate the birthdays of Albéniz, J.S. Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Walker. Each mini-recital will only be available for 24 hours following its live broadcast. More information on Events page.
Michael will perform a special, live-streamed mini-concert celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021, at 8 pm EST, for Classical Music for a Better World. The program will include works by the Venezuelan Teresa Carreño (1853-1917); the Ethiopian Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou (b. 1923); the German Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847); the Americans Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) and Florence Price (1887-1953); and the Bohemian Juliane Reichardt (1752-1783). The concert will be completely free of charge to view and will be streamed at https://bit.ly/iwdcmbw. Following the live broadcast, a replay will remain available until April 8, 2021, at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time. Despite the concert being free of charge, CMBW encourages listeners to donate in support of organizations that promote music composed by women; supports commissions of new pieces by women composers; and funds music education and musical instruments for students in such countries as the United States, Ethiopia, and Israel. By donating any amount via https://iwdcmbw.eventbrite.com, audience members gain access to an exclusive Q&A session with Michael following the concert. 45% of every donation benefits the Emahoy Tsege Mariam Music Foundation, and another 45% supports the Boulanger Initiative.
Murray Perahia selected Michael Lu as one of ten pianists to participate in his Beethoven Masterclass in Munich, Germany. Michael will work with the great pianist on Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 111 and perform a lunch concert with the nine other selected pianists. Originally scheduled to be held in June 2020, it has been postponed. A new date will be announced well ahead of time.