MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

Michael Feinstein, one of the top interpreters of the popular American song, has been a household name ever since the success of his one-man Broadway show Isn't It Romantic in 1988. His fourth Concord release, "Michael Feinstein With The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra", is a special event for it is the first time that the singer-pianist has recorded with a symphony orchestra.

Feinstein started playing piano by ear when he was five. "I loved the music that my parents listened to rather than what was on the radio at the time. I was very enamored with show music and I listened to a lot of the music that I now perform." Feinstein began performing as a teenager, playing at weddings and parties in Columbus, Ohio.

After graduating from high school, he 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, he was introduced to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. "Initially I was asked to work for Ira in the capacity of cataloguing his phonograph records. After that I was given carte blanche by Ira's wife to assist Ira, going through papers, playing the piano for him, being paid to be with a man who I greatly idealized. Eventually I became Ira's eyes and ears to the outside world as he was no longer able to go out in the world, becoming his musical assistant."

Continuing as a piano bar performer, Michael Feinstein was too talented to be anonymous for long. Liza Minnelli helped sponsor his 1986 New York debut and his Broadway show Isn't It Romantic in 1988 made him famous. Through his live performances (at both huge venues and sophisticated clubs), recordings, film and television appearances, and his songwriting (often in collaboration with Carole Bayer Sager or Arthur Hamilton), Feinstein has been an important musical force during the past 15 years. In addition, he scored the original music for the film Get Bruce and co-owns the most successful nightclub in New York City, Feinstein's at the Regency.

He is currently at work on a six-part Warner Home Video series for television that depicts the history of the American popular song up to 1960, and hopes to become involved in writing additional film music in the future. He thinks of himself as being "a real word or lyric man. I always want to present songs in a way that best expresses the intentions of the songwriters yet also gives me an opportunity to put a personal stamp on the interpretations. Even though many of the songs I perform are old, they have a timeless quality about them which is why they have survived. I always seek to present the material in a way that is contemporary while touching people's hearts."