- Michael Feinstein
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Michael Feinstein 
Michael Feinstein in 2009Background information Birth name Michael Jay Feinstein Born September 7, 1956
Columbus, OhioGenres The Great American Songbook Occupations singer, pianist, music archivist Instruments Vocals, piano Years active 1986–present Labels Nonesuch/Elektra Records, Concord Records Website http://www.michaelfeinstein.com Michael Jay Feinstein[1] (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an interpreter of, and an anthropologist and archivist for, the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for celebrating American musical theatre songs. Feinstein is also a multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated recording artist.[2]
Contents
Early life
Feinstein was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Florence Mazie (née Cohen), an amateur tap dancer, and Edward Feinstein, a sales executive for the Sara Lee Corporation and a former amateur singer.[1] At the age of five, he studied piano for a couple of months until his teacher became angered that he wasn't reading the sheet music she gave him, since he was more comfortable playing by ear. As his mother saw no problem with her son's method, she took him out of lessons and allowed him to enjoy music his own way.
Career
After graduating from high school, Feinstein worked in local piano bars for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he was 20. Through the widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant, in 1977 he was introduced to Ira Gershwin, who hired him to catalogue his extensive collection of phonograph records. The assignment led to six years of researching, cataloguing and preserving the unpublished sheet music and rare recordings in Gershwin's home, thus securing the legacy of not just Ira but also that of his composer brother George Gershwin, who had died four decades earlier. Feinstein's extended tenure enabled him to also get to know Gershwin's next-door neighbor, singer Rosemary Clooney, with whom Feinstein formed an intensely close friendship lasting until Clooney's death. Feinstein served as musical consultant for the 1983 Broadway show My One and Only, a musical pastiche of Gershwin tunes.
By the mid-1980s, Feinstein was a nationally known cabaret singer-pianist famed for being a dedicated proponent of the Great American Songbook. In 1986, he recorded his first CD, Pure Gershwin (1987), a collection of music by George and Ira Gershwin. He followed this in quick succession with Live at the Algonquin (1986); Remember: Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin (1987); Isn't It Romantic (1988), a collection of standards and his first album backed by an orchestra; and Over There (1989), featuring the music of America and Europe during the First World War. Feinstein recorded his only children's album, Pure Imagination, in 1992.
By 1988, Feinstein was starring on Broadway in a series of in-concert shows: Michael Feinstein in Concert (April through June 1988), Michael Feinstein in Concert: "Isn't It Romantic" (October through November 1988), and Michael Feinstein in Concert: Piano and Voice (October 1990). He returned to Broadway in 2010, in a concert special duo with Dame Edna titled All About Me (March through April 2010).[3]
In the early 1990s, Feinstein embarked on an ambitious songbook project wherein he performed an album featuring the music of a featured composer, often accompanied by the composer. These included collaborations with Burton Lane (two volumes: 1990, 1992), Jule Styne (1991), Jerry Herman (Michael Feinstein Sings the Jerry Herman Songbook, 1993), Hugh Martin (1995), Jimmy Webb (Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb, 2003) and Jay Livingston/Ray Evans (2002). He has also recorded three albums of standards with Maynard Ferguson: Forever (1993), Such Sweet Sorrow (1995), and Big City Rhythms (1999).
In the late 1990s, Feinstein record two more albums of Gershwin music: Nice Work If You Can Get It: Songs by the Gershwins (1996) and Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin (1998). Feinstein's albums in the 21st century have included Romance on Film, Romance on Broadway (2000), Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (2001), Hopeless Romantics (2005, featuring George Shearing), and The Sinatra Project (2008).
Michael Feinstein and Marvin Hamlisch performing a duet of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" in 2009.
In 2000, the Library of Congress appointed Feinstein to its newly formed National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to safeguarding America’s musical heritage.[4]
In 2008, the Feinstein Foundation for the Education and Preservation of The Great American Songbook located its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana.[5] In 2009 Feinstein became the artistic director of the Carmel Performing Arts Center.[6]
In 2009, Feinstein teamed up with Cheyenne Jackson to create a nightclub act titled "The Power of Two". The show was hailed by the New York Times as "passionate," "impeccably harmonized" and "groundbreaking".[7] Variety acclaimed it as "dazzlingly entertaining".[8] Their act became one of the most critically acclaimed shows of 2009,[9][10][11] and the duo created a studio album from the material, The Power of Two.
In 2010, PBS aired Michael Feinstein's American Songbook, a three-part television documentary that depicts the history of the American popular song up to 1960, as well as Feinstein's own life and career.[12]
Feinstein is the owner of the Manhattan nightclub Feinstein's at the Regency, a showcase for cabaret performers.[13] He performs there for a sold-out Christmas holiday stint each year, and at other times as well. Feinstein was also a part owner of the now-closed Speakeasy Supper Club in Chicago.[14] In 2008, he opened his own London venue, Feinstein's at the Shaw.[15]
Other media appearances
Feinstein was a judge at the 2007 Miss America Pageant. In addition to doing more than 150 live performances per year, he has also appeared on a number of television series, documentaries, and talk shows.
Future projects
As of June 2011, Feinstein has written the score for two new stage musicals, The Night They Saved Macy’s Parade and The Gold Room. He is working with MGM to turn The Thomas Crown Affair into a Broadway musical. He is also scoring his second movie, The Big Valley.[2]
Personal life
In October 2008, Feinstein married his longtime partner Terrence Flannery.[16] The ceremony was performed by famed family court and television judge Judith Sheindlin, also known as Judge Judy. Feinstein and Flannery have homes in New York, Los Angeles and Indiana.
Discography
For Feinstein's discography see Michael Feinstein discography.
Reference
- Feinstein, Michael (1995). Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme. Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6093-7. http://books.google.com/?id=muQHAQAAMAAJ.
Notes
- ^ a b Michael Feinstein Biography (1956-)
- ^ a b MICHAEL FEINSTEIN Theatre Credits - Who's Who Bio
- ^ Michael Feinstein at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Overview: National Recording Preservation Board (Library of Congress)
- ^ http://www.ci.carmel.in.us/government/newsrelease/06-03-08.htm
- ^ Michael Feinstein taking post with Carmel arts hall - 13 WTHR
- ^ Holden, Stephen (2009-03-06). "What Secret Hearts? Let the Sunshine In". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/arts/music/04fein.html. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
- ^ Suskin, Steven (2009-06-27). "Cabarets Change". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005433.html?categoryId=2524&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
- ^ "The Power of Two". TheaterMania. 2009-03-06. http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/reviews/06-2009/michael-feinstein-and-cheyenne-jackson-the-power-o_19429.html. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
- ^ "Life Is Still a Cabaret , Vow Feinstein, Jackson". Huffington Post. 2009-06-16. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-finkle/life-is-still-a-cabaret-v_b_215515.html. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
- ^ Dziemianowicz, Joe (2009-12-06). "Odd Couple Take Over City Cabaret". NY Daily News (New York). http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2009/06/12/2009-06-12_odd_couples_take_city_cabarets_in_.html. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ Home | Michael Feinstein's American Songbook | PBS
- ^ Feinstein's at Loews Regency : Home
- ^ Carla Gordon'S Heartland Cabaret - Foiled Again Performs Old Black Magic At Speakeasy Supper Club
- ^ Michael Feinstein Moves to London | The New York Observer
- ^ Getlin, Josh (2010-10-03). "Michael Feinstein is in the national treasure business". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/03/entertainment/la-ca-michael-feinstein-20101003. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
External links
- Official website
- Michael Feinstein's American Songbook
- Official fan club
- http://www.michaelfeinsteinfoundation.org
- http://www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.org
- Michael Feinstein at the Internet Movie Database
- Michael Feinstein at the Internet Broadway Database
Categories:- 1956 births
- American male singers
- American pianists
- American singers
- Concord Records artists
- LGBT musicians from the United States
- Living people
- Nonesuch Records artists
- People from Columbus, Ohio
- Traditional pop music singers
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