Solomon Mikowsky:
In Memoriam

Former students enjoying international careers include Simone Dinnerstein, Kirill Gerstein, Alexandre Moutouzkine, Yuan Sheng, Inesa Sinkevych, Alexandra Beliakovich, Jenny Q Chai, Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz, Gustavo Diaz-Jerez, Wael Farouk, Po-Wei Ger, Kookhee Hong, Adam Kent, Khowoon Kim, Kyu Yeon Kim, Youngho Kim, Sofia Melikyan, José Ramón Méndez, Misha Namirovsky, Edward Neeman,  Aaron Shorr, Tatiana Tessman, Chun Wang, Xiayin Wang, Yungwook Yoo and Jie Yuan.

Mikowsky’s students are featured in the Bridge, Centaur, Chandos, Decca Classics, Deutsche Gramophone, Lawo Classics, Ibs, Myrios, Naxos, SONY, Telarc, and Steinway recording labels. They have performed as soloists with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras in the U.S. and with the Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, London, Paris, Budapest, Madrid, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Zürich Tonhalle and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras in Europe and the Middle East, under such noted conductors as Adès, Barenboim, Bychkov, Dudamel, Eschenbach, Fischer, Järvi, Jurowsky, Masur, Mehta, Maazel and Petrenko. They have also been guests of the Aspen, BBC Proms, Blossom, Bowdoin, Bravo! Vail Valley, Caramoor, Edinburgh, Jerusalem, La Roque d’Anthéron, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg, Santander, Saratoga, Tanglewood, Vail and Verbier summer festivals.

Solomon Mikowsky, born in Cuba to Polish parents, received his early training with César Pérez Sentenat, who studied in Paris with Joaquín Nin, a pupil of Moszkowski (student of Liszt). Awarded scholarships by the Cuban government and the Juilliard School, he continued his studies in New York with Sasha Gorodnitzki, foremost pupil of the legendary Russian virtuoso Josef Lhevinne, receiving BM and MM degrees from Juilliard and completing his studies with a doctorate from Columbia University. A contributor to Américas (Journal of the OAS), The Piano (South Korea), and Piano Artistry (China), articles about Dr. Mikowsky have been included in Afterthoughts of a pianist/Teacher by Donald Isler (link), in Our Piano Era by Liu Ye (link), and in La voluntad de prevalecer by Mario Cremata Ferrán, as well as an interview by Justin Bischof (link). His doctoral dissertation, Ignacio Cervantes and the XIX-Century Cuban Danza, has been published in English by Lambert Publishers and in Spanish by Ediciones Boloña  (link).

He has taught and given master classes at the leading conservatories in Moscow (Tchaikovsky), St. Petersburg (Rimsky-Korsakoff), Warsaw (Chopin Academy), Munich (Hochschule für Musik), Cracow, Budapest (Liszt Academy), London (Royal College and Royal Academy), Paris, Leipzig, Halle, Rotterdam, Venice, Bologna, Arezzo, Sulmona, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Tenerife, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Ankara, Sidney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Xiamen, Harbin, Taipei, Kaoshiung, Taichung, Tainan, Manila, Jakarta, Seoul, Kang-Nung, Cheju, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka and Pretoria.

A Steinway artist and former Professor of Music Education at Columbia University, Mikowsky has also taught at The Juilliard Precollege, New York University, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Mikowsky is a longtime member of the artist piano faculty at Manhattan School of Music, where he is recipient of the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service. The school also celebrated his pedagogical contribution with an anniversary concert in his honor, the MSM website presentation of 7 sets of Mozart’s Twinkle Variations featuring him and 47 of his students (review here), and a 3-hour concert featuring Mikowsky and 75 of his students performing in A Birthday Celebration!  (review here).

Listen to Mikowsky perform Sonata No.7 in D Major I. Adagio by Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785), and Italian Concerto, BWV 971 II. Andante by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) here.