The Lewin-Muresanu Duo
Irina Muresanu - violin • Michael Lewin - piano

New CD: World-wide release in Fall 2007. The Lewin-Muresanu Duo will also make their New York recital debut on Nov 2, 2007 at Bargemusic, playing the Four Bolcom Sonatas on the new "Here and Now" series.	Photo: Lucy Cobos
"Bringing fervor and range to Bolcom: The Bolcom Sonatas are also phenomenally difficult, something that seemed of no consequence to Muresanu and Lewin….almost telepathic rapport…Their playing was marked by passion and tremendous rhythmic vitality." - The Boston Globe, April, 2006 (Read the entire rave review!)

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About the Duo:
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The Lewin-Muresanu Duo, combining the extraordinary gifts of Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu and American pianist Michael Lewin, has quickly become well-known and sought after for their dynamic performances of the rich violin and piano repertoire. The Duo brings together two internationally applauded soloists and chamber musicians who combine in a compelling synergy of charisma, musical command, synchronicity and virtuosity. Winners of the 2005 Aaron Copland Recording Fund Grant, they are currently giving wide-ranging concert performances and recording the four Sonatas and the Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom for Centaur Records. Their first recording together is “Kreutzette” by Andy Vores, a performance praised in Gramophone Magazine of a work that was written for them. The Duo was named ensemble-in-residence at The Boston Conservatory in 2005, where they both serve on the Artist-Faculty, and they also share a summer residency at the Killington Music Festival. Their Canadian debut in 2004 brought an immediate reengagement and was hailed by the Waterloo Gazette for its “power, affection and insight…a sensational concert!” In 2006 the Boston Globe wrote: “They’ve played together for only three years, but you wouldn’t know it from their almost telepathic rapport. Their playing was marked by passion and tremendous rhythmic vitality.”

This season the Duo will perform throughout the Northeast and Canada, and perform the Martinu Concerto da Camera with the Boston Conservatory Orchestra under Bruce Hangen. Their 2005-06 season included recitals in Vermont at the Killington Music Festival, on Rhode Island’s Music on the Hill series, for Canada’s Kitchener-Waterloo Music Society as well as their European debut, giving a recital and masterclasses in Italy at the United World College of the Adriatic. In Massachusetts they played on the Boston Conservatory’s Faculty Recital Series and New Music Festival, the Kalliroscope Gallery Chamber Series in Groton, as well as in Rehoboth, Westwood, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the St. Botolph Club, the Harvard-Epworth Church and on WGBH. Irina and Michael began playing together in January 2003, their early concerts taking place in Puerto Rico at the Tapia Theatre and El Convento, on WGBH Radio and throughout New England. The Blizzard of 2003 thwarted their initial attempt at a Boston debut- that occasion instead took place at the Franklin Institute during the Boston Conservatory’s 2004 Winterfest, a year that also included recitals in Worcester, the WCRB-Copley Plaza series, the All-Newton Music School, in Canada, and an orchestral performance of the rarely heard Concerto in F Major by Haydn for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra, with the Boston Virtuosi. They are involved in ongoing explorations of the Beethoven, Brahms, Bolcom and Prokofiev Sonata cycles, a wide variety of recital pieces, and various Double Concertos with orchestra.

Irina Muresanu, Violinist

The Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu has won international acclaim as an outstanding young soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Ms. Muresanu’s competition honors include top prizes in the Montreal International Competition, Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition, UNISA International String Competition, and the Washington International. She has also won the Pro Musicis International Award, the Presser Music Award, and the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association. Ms. Muresanu has appeared as soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Boston Pops, the Metropolitaine Orchestra in Montreal, the Boston Philharmonic, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, and the Miami and Syracuse Symphonies. In addition to the Lewin-Muresanu Duo, Ms. Muresanu performs as a member of the Boston Trio and the Walden Chamber Players. She is a frequent guest of the Boston Chamber Music Society and a popular Festival guest artist. Ms. Muresanu currently serves on the violin faculty of The Boston Conservatory, and the Music Department at MIT. She plays an 1856 Joseph Rocca violin and a Charles Peccat bow.

www.irinamuresanu.com

Michael Lewin, Pianist

The American pianist Michael Lewin enjoys a distinguished international career and reputation, launched by victories in the Liszt International Competition, the William Kapell International Competition and the American Pianists Association Beethoven Fellowship. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony, Guadalajara Philharmonic, Bucharest ‘Enescu’ Philharmonic, and the Symphonies of Phoenix, Indianapolis, North Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, New Orleans, Miami, Colorado, Thessaloniki, Puerto Rico and the Boston Pops. He has performed in New York’s Lincoln Center, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theatre, Holland’s Muziekcentrum, the Great Hall in Moscow, the Megaron in Athens, the SpoletoFestival and on PBS Television. His six solo recordings, on Naxos and Centaur, include the complete piano music of Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Scarlatti Piano Sonatas, a Liszt album, a Russian recital and Bamboula!, piano music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk. A Steinway Artist, Mr. Lewin is a member of the Lewin-Muresanu Duo and Piano Chair at The Boston Conservatory.

www.michaellewin.com

Sample Recital Programs
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Concert Schedule
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Irina Muresanu and Michael Lewin in Studio One with WGBH Radio Host Richard Knisely. March 2006

Contact the Lewin-Muresanu Duo:
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