Hello and welcome!  I'm Michael Lewanski.  I'm a Georgia-born, Chicago-based conductor, writer, and educator.  I advocate for both new and old musics alike.  In my work, I seek to maximize interpretative engagement and create deep connections between audiences, musicians, composers, and the music that is part of their culture, society, and history. I work to foster a critical perspective on the classical music industry’s historical injustices, with the goal of systemic change.  I am conductor of Ensemble Dal Niente, Associate Professor of Instrumental Ensembles at the DePaul University School of Music, a frequent guest conductor, and a writer.  More detailed/official-sounding information about me is below.

Press quotations:

“Worst Welcoming Statement[:] Conductor and Ear Taxi Festival curatorial director Michael Lewanski managed to nearly single-handedly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory before the new-music festival even opened, with an uber-woke and tortuously academic Curatorial Statement that accused the entire classical music industry of—you guessed it—racism, as well as being ‘among the most imperialist and oppressive fields in contemporary culture.’ Even conservatory buildings and classical venues are racist, says Lewanski, since ‘Schools of music, concert halls, and other musical institutions are located on land stolen from Native people.’”
- Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

"Lewanski, who is an excellent conductor, maintained a level of structural expertise that once more gave a listener faith in the music."
- Mark Swed, L.A. Times

"The gatherings and vanishings of this reflection on life and dust... were precisely charted by the conductor Michael Lewanski."
- David Allen, New York Times

"The performances... conducted by Michael Lewanski, sounded fresh, vital and committed, the many moving parts synchronized with amazing precision."
- John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

"The work was held together by the remarkably detailed conducting of Michael Lewanski, who pointed out the rhythmic and emotive extremes with clarity and precision."
- Gerard Fischer, Chicago Classical Review

"In his introduction, Lewanski talked about the work’s structure and expressed his deep enthusiasm for the piece, which was palpable in the ensuing string septet performance, the clear highlight of the evening."
- John Lawrence, Chicago Classical Review

"Some had robust sections that evoked a movie soundtrack; some had passages of great tenderness... [one] seemed to give voice to mathematical formulae. The pieces required the orchestra to articulate serpentine rhythms with the utmost precision. A couple pieces had the musicians making up some sounds on the spot... The orchestra, conducted by Michael Lewanski, handled it all with aplomb."
- David Dupont, Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune

Interviews:

• On Drew McManus’s Shoptalk (along with Dr. Eric Esparza, DePaul director of choral activities), here.

• With Darcy Heinrichs in DePaul Newsline, here.

• With composer/writer Jon Fielder for Klang, here.

• With Doyle Armbrust here (originally published in Crain's Chicago Business)

• With composer/writer Ray Evanoff of Foci Arts, here.

Long-form biography:

Conductor, curator, educator, and writer Michael Lewanski is a champion of new and old musics. He seeks to facilitate engaged connections between audiences, musicians, composers, and the music that is part of their culture, society, and history. His work fosters a critical perspective towards the classical music industry’s historical injustices with the goal of collective, systemic change. He is conductor of Ensemble Dal Niente and Associate Professor of instrumental ensembles at the DePaul University School of Music, where his work focuses on training the next generation of musicians to be maximally responsible and thoughtful artistic citizens.

Michael was Curatorial Director of Ear Taxi Festival 2021.  He was resident conductor of the 2017 and 2019 SoundSCAPE Festivals in Italy. His guest conducting engagements have been wide-ranging and stylistically diverse, working with organizations such as the the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW Series, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan, Ensamble CEPROMUSIC (Centro de Experimentación y Producción de Música Contemporánea, Mexico City), Composers Conference (Brandeis Univeristy), Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition’s Grossman Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Mocrep, and others. He has led hundreds of world premieres. He was the Conducting Assistant for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2010 to 2014. At the 2012 Darmstadt Summer Courses, Ensemble Dal Niente won the prestigious Kranichstein Music Prize under his direction. 

Michael has an extensive discography as both conductor and producer.  His recordings appear on Carrier Records, New Amsterdam Records, New Focus Recordings, New World Records, Parlour Tapes+, and PARMA Recordings.  His discography includes works by George Lewis, Franco Donatoni, Dai Fujikura, Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Erin Gee, Eliza Brown, Aaron Einbond, Kyong-Mee Choi, Janice Misurell-Mitchell, Katherine Young, and Kurt Westerberg. He has acted as producer for recordings by Ensemble Dal Niente, Spektral Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, and violinist J. Austin Wulliman.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, he made his conducting debut at age 13 with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra.  At 16, he was the youngest student ever accepted into the conducting class of the legendary Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Michael attended Yale University, where his studies included conducting with Lawrence Leighton Smith and piano with Sara Laimon. He was music director of the Yale Bach Society Orchestra and conductor of the Yale College Opera Company.  His post-Yale education featured conducting study with Cliff Colnot and Dutch new music expert Lucas Vis.

Michael assisted in the organization of There is No Repetition: Mathias Spahlinger at 70 in March 2015.  Other recent festival appearances include soundSCAPE (2017, 2019), June in Buffalo (2016-2017, 2019), the Ear Taxi Festival (2016), New Music Gathering (Baltimore, 2016), Foro Internacional de Música Nueva in Mexico City (2015, 2018), the 2013 Ecstatic Music Festival (in which Dal Niente collaborated with the rockband Deerhoof), the 2013 Bowling Green New Music Festival, the Northwestern New Music Conference (2014, 2015), Omaha Under the Radar (2015, 2018), and MusicArte festival in Panama (2013, 2015).  

Michael is frequent writer on music and other artforms; his pieces have shown up in diverse and sometime unobvious locations, including New Music Box, Cacophony Magazine, WQXR.org, Ensemble Dal Niente's blog, and various program books.

Michael’s schedule for the unusual COVID-impacted 2020-2021 concert season has included a season of streamed/recorded performances with Ensemble Dal Niente; a guest conducting appearance on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s CSO Sessions series, and with Picosa chamber music ensemble; continued planning of Ear Taxi Festival; and virtual appearances in pedagogical settings all over the US.

Shorter biography:

Conductor, educator, and writer Michael Lewanski is a champion of new and old music. His work seeks to facilitate engaged connections between audiences, musicians, and the music that is part of their culture, society, and history. Based in Chicago, he is conductor of Ensemble Dal Niente and Associate Professor of instrumental ensembles at the DePaul University School of Music. His work fosters a critical perspective towards the classical music industry’s historical injustices with the goal of collective, systemic change. He was Curatorial Director of Ear Taxi 2021, a festival of 21st century Chicago music. His wide-ranging guest-conducting has included work with Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW Series, the Toledo Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan, Ensamble CEPROMUSIC (Centro de Experimentación y Producción de Música Contemporánea, Mexico City), and Mocrep, among many others. He was resident conductor of the SoundSCAPE Festival in Italy in 2017 and 2019.  Michael has an extensive discography as both conductor and producer with Ensemble Dal Niente, Spektral Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, DePaul’s Ensemble 20+, and others.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, he studied piano and violin in his youth; he made his conducting debut at age 13, leading his own composition.  At 16, he was the youngest-ever student in the legendary Ilya Musin’s class at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.  He attended Yale University; he subsequently studied with Cliff Colnot and Lucas Vis.

100-word biography:

Conductor, educator, and writer Michael Lewanski is a champion of new and old musics. He seeks to facilitate engaged connections between audiences, musicians, and the music that is part of their culture; his work fosters a critical perspective on the classical music industry’s injustices. Based in Chicago, he is conductor of Ensemble Dal Niente and Associate Professor at the DePaul University School of Music. He is a frequent guest conductor and recording artist. A native of Savannah, Georgia, he began conducting at 13. At 16, he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Ilya Musin. He attended Yale University; he subsequently studied with Cliff Colnot and Lucas Vis.