BIOGRAPHY
Praised as a pianist with “flair and energy” (The New York Times), Michael Fennelly's recordings include The Legend of Faust: Part One and Debut. He is currently recording Encore featuring Rhapsody in Blue in New York City.
Michael Fennelly has the distinction of being named a Bösendorfer Artist, and recently performed with the Talich Quartet in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, Op.57. He represented the US on a tour of Japan for the State Department, and has performed in many of the world's great concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Munich’s Prinzregenten Theatre, and Berlin’s Komische Oper. His recitals have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City) and NDR Radio (Germany). On film, he appeared as the young Harry Truman (who initially trained to become a concert pianist) for PBS’ American Experience. A versatile and remarkable musician, this past season Michael Fennelly was the head coach/pianist for Lyric Opera Virginia's inaugural production of La traviata, and the premiere of John Musto's The Inspector with Wolf Trap Opera. He was the assistant conductor for Il barbiere di Siviglia and The King and I with Ash Lawn Opera. Michael Fennelly conducts the Fauré Requiem in New York City, as well as Cendrillon with Lyric Opera New York this fall.
The Californian made his first concerto appearance at age ten, and subsequently performed with many orchestras throughout California, including the Orange County Philharmonic, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Santa Clara Symphony and the South Coast Symphony Orchestra. While still in high school, he was flown to New York as a last-minute replacement for a soloist with the New York Virtuosi Orchestra, and performed Brahms’ First Piano Concerto in Germany. He has performed concertos with the Manhattan Symphony and with the Barge Festival, and has participated in many world premieres, including Blitzstein’s Cain for the American Composers Alliance.
Michael Fennelly was the United States winner of the Horowitz Competition, and made his Carnegie Hall solo recital debut as winner of the Artist International Competition. He was a prize-winner of the Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival, and the Young Keyboard Artist Association. He has performed in Moscow Conservatory’s International Chopin Symposium, New York’s Schoenberg Music Festival, and Italy’s Wilhelm Kempff Beethoven Seminar, and in master classes under John O’Connor, Richard Goode, and Abbey Simon.
Michael Fennelly's early piano teachers were Trula Whelan and Earl Voorhies in California. He attended the Eastman School of Music as a pupil of Dr. Nelita True, and was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. He continued his Masters and Doctoral studies with Byron Janis and Dr. Marc Silverman at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received the school’s special prize for chamber music and completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a dissertation on Metric Structure.
Dr. Fennelly was a staff pianist and coach for several years with The Juilliard School and the Intermezzo Festival. He instituted a chamber music program and worked with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival, and has performed recitals with members of the New York Philharmonic and soloists from the Metropolitan Opera. Michael Fennelly has performed for the Aristotle Onassis Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Opera Index Foundation, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and Allied Tours. He was a "Distinguished Guest Soloist" for Olympia Cruises and is a member of the vocal ensemble Hudson Shad.