Michael A. Levine
| Michael A. Levine | |
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| Born |
February 20, 1964 Tokyo, Japan |
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| Website | www |
Michael A. Levine (born 20 February 1964 in Tokyo, Japan) is an American composer, music producer and screenwriter born in Japan and currently based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his work in film and television.
His Concerto for Pedal Steel Guitar and Orchestra is believed to be the first concerto ever written for the pedal steel guitar. It was premiered on April 16, 2005, in a performance by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra with Gary Morse (of Dierks Bentley and Dwight Yoakam's bands) as soloist, and Paul Gambill as conductor. Levine also composed Divination By Mirrors for musical saw and strings. It was premiered in New York City's Merkin Hall in 1998 by the New York Virtuosi with Dale Stuckenbruck as the saw soloist. The piece makes extensive use of quarter tones and golden mean sections.
Levine has also written several opera and musical theater pieces including Orpheus Electronica (2000), widely believed to be the first "rave opera". Orpheus was developed for the stage by William Philip McKinley, who directed Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark and The Boy From Oz on Broadway.
Trained as a violinist, Levine began his career as a studio musician in New York in the 1980s playing both keyboards and violin. He appeared on recordings and/or live performances with Carla Bley, Michael Mantler, John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Joe Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, and Marianne Faithfull. His violin playing on Faithfull's rendition of Boulevard of Broken Dreams is considered signature. In the mid-1980s, Levine led the New York City-based quartet, No Guitars, in which he sang and played electric violin. Patrick Moraz of Yes described him as "The Jimi Hendrix of the violin."
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