Seeds of Collaboration

One of the most versatile and charismatic violinists on the current scene, Brian Lewis is an exceptionally dedicated and gifted performer whose passionate artistry has been heard and embraced around the world. Acclaimed performances include concerto debuts in both New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Berlin (Germany), Louisiana, Kansas City, Syracuse, Odense (Denmark), Wichita, Hartford, Eugene, Spokane, and American Symphony orchestras, among others. He has recorded six CDs, most recently for Delos as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra of music by Leonard Bernstein and Hollywood composer Michael McLean.

Mr. Lewis has won numerous young artists’ competitions, including the grand prize in the Mid-America Violin Competition. In addition to the Waldo Mayo Talent Award, he holds both the Peter Mennin Prize and William Schuman Prize awarded by Juilliard for outstanding achievement and leadership in the field of music. Mr. Lewis was one of the first recipients of the Sony ES Award for Musical Excellence, and he has received two Elizabeth B. Koch Fellowships from the Kansas Cultural Trust. In 2005-06, Mr. Lewis received both the Texas Exes Teaching Award and The University of Texas School of Music Teaching Excellence Award.

As a student of Eleanor Allen, Mr. Lewis began his violin studies at the age of four and participated in the Ottawa Suzuki Strings program under the direction of his mother, Alice Joy Lewis. He later studied with Tiberius Klausner, and twice traveled to Japan where he studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto. He holds both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School where he was a student of Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, and Hyo Kang. Mr. Lewis holds the David and Mary Winton Green Chair in String Performance and Pedagogy at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also Artistic Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at The Juilliard School in New York City, concertmaster of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, founding member of the Texas Piano Quartet, and Artistic Director of the Starling Distinguished Violinist Series at UT.

Send a message to Brian Lewis

Nancy Lokken directs Augsburg University Suzuki Talent Education in Minneapolis, MN. She studied with Dr. Suzuki in Japan and is an active teacher trainer throughout the US, Canada, and Latin America. She chaired the SAA Conference in 2002 and has served on Teacher Development Committees.

Send a message to Nancy Lokken

Michael McLean is an internationally noted composer, violinist, and pedagogue based in Los Angeles. On the faculty at The Colburn School of Performing Arts as a violinist and conductor, he also maintains a lively career as a composer of orchestral, chamber, and film music. He studied violin and composition at Northwestern University and film scoring at the University of Southern California. He has taught violin at the Music Institute of Chicago and at Texas Christian University. Mr. McLean is a popular guest clinician at workshops and institutes throughout the country. An active member of the SAA, he has studied Suzuki pedagogy with Yuko Honda, Barbara Barber, and John Kendall. Mr. McLean has written more than one hundred compositions and has recorded four CDs, Care to Tango?, New World, Pieces, and Kokoro. His Violin Concerto, Elements, was recorded by Brian Lewis and the London Symphony Orchestra and was released by Delos in 2006.

Send a message to Michael McLean