Cited as “one of the world’s most sought-after artist teachers, for reasons that are not hard to come by” (Dean Elder, Clavier, U.S.), Solomon Mikowsky is renowned for his “magical ability to develop his piano students into artists” (Sur Exprès, France).
His Manhattan School of Music students have won top prizes in the Arthur Rubinstein competition in Tel-Aviv (three awards, including the 1st prize), the Tchaikovsky and Richter in Moscow, Beethoven in Bonn (1st), Santander (1st), Schumann in Leipzig (1st), Queen Elizabeth, Dublin (1st), China International, Cleveland, Bachauer, Montreal (1st), New Orleans (1st), Vianna da Motta in Lisbon (two winners), Poulenc in France, Canals in Barcelona (four 1st prizes and multiple others), Jaén in Spain (two 1st prizes and multiple others), Iturbi in Valencia (two 1st prizes and multiple others), Zaragoza (one 1st prize and multiple others), Astral in Philadelphia (two 1st prizes), Chopin Kosciuszko (four 1st prizes and multiple others) and Panama (four 1st prizes and multiple others), as well as the Gilmore Artist Award and Young Artist Award, the Rubinstein and Cherkassky awards, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Currently enjoying international success, his pupils include Simone Dinnerstein, Kirill Gerstein, Alexandre Moutouzkine, Inesa Sinkevych, Yuan Sheng, Adam Kent, Jenny Chai, Gustavo Diaz-Jerez, Wael Farouk, Sofia Melikyan, Misha Namirovsky, Aaron Shorr, Yungwook Yoo and Jie Yuan. Those and many other outstanding students are making important contributions as performers and teachers, having appeared 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), Zurich 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, Saratoga, Tanglewood, Vail and Verbier summer festivals. Solomon Mikowsky was born in Cuba to Polish parents. His early training was with César Pérez Sentenat, who had studied in Paris with Joaquín Nin, a pupil of Moszkowski (student of Liszt). Granted 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. He completed his studies with a doctoral degree from Columbia University. His doctoral dissertation, Ignacio Cervantes and the 19th-century Cuban Danza, was published in English and Spanish.
Mikowsky has been a member of the juries of innumerable international competitions and has directed his International Piano Festivals for many years in Spain and in Cuba, with the participation of the symphony orchestras of Tenerife, Las Palmas, Barcelona, Valencia, and Havana, and many of his students. Dr. Mikowsky is the recipient of the Institute of International Education Cintas Award and of a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Havana. He has taught and given master classes at the leading conservatories in Moscow (Tchaikovsky), St. Petersburg (Rimsky-Korsakoff), Warsaw (Chopin Academy), Cracow, Budapest (Liszt Academy), London (Royal College and Royal Academy), Paris, Leipzig, Halle, Rotterdam, Madrid, Tenerife, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Ankara, Sidney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Harbin, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka. A longtime member of the artist piano faculty at Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Mikowsky is the recipient of the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service. The school has also celebrated his pedagogical contribution with an anniversary concert in his honor in 2019 and the presentation of his September 2020 Mozart Twinkle Project on its website, featuring him and 48 of his students and alumni. The Solomon Mikowsky Recital Hall was inaugurated in 2010 and expanded in 2018, in conjunction with the school’s centennial. The adjacent Gallery features the many prizes and awards won by his students throughout his teaching career. The Piano Teaching Legacy of Solomon Mikowsky, by Kookhee Hong, has been published by Lambert Publishers and is also available in Chinese, Korean and Spanish editions.
