George Lepauw
“A prodigious pianist” (Chicago Tribune) recognized for his “singing tone” (New York Times), and someone who “likes to shake it up” (Chicago Tribune), George Lepauw is an artist and cultural activist who uses music to inspire and bring people together. He has performed across the United States as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra and chamber musician, and has toured internationally as far as Asia, South America, and Europe presenting a wide range of repertoire covering five hundred years of music up to our day, all guided by his insatiable musical curiosity.
Named Chicagoan of the Year (2012) for Classical Music (Chicago Tribune), George represents the ideal 21st century musician, intensely focused on his art and wholly engaged with the world. In 2009 he had the honour of giving the World Premiere performance of a newly-discovered and long-lost piano trio of Beethoven’s to great acclaim, which was followed by a highly-praised first recording with the Beethoven Project Trio for Cedille Records.
Along with his trio recording, George Lepauw has released several solo albums, including the monumental Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach. Given five stars by BBC Music Magazine, the publication noted that his “journey through these wonderful pieces is contemplative, commendably articulate and enhanced by unfailing linear clarity.” His other albums are Debussy’s complete Préludes for piano, and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, all for the London-based Orchid Classics label.
In addition to his performance career, George is a cultural activist and organiser. He is the Founder of the International Beethoven Project (IBP), a non-profit organisation based in Chicago and focused on innovation in the arts through which he has organised multi-disciplinary festivals, special events, educational programs and annual “Beethoven Birthday Bashes”. Additionally, George was Executive Director of the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest) from 2016 to 2018, which allowed him to deepen his passion for film, an artform he has occasionally participated in as a producer, composer, and musician for over a decade. In 2020, he led an initiative for the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany to collect thousands of birthday messages to Beethoven from around the world for his 250th anniversary.
George was born in France into a musical family and spent his childhood attending orchestra rehearsals and concerts: his grandfather Roger Lepauw was Principal Viola of the Paris Opera Orchestra as well as of the Orchestre de Paris and his father Didier Lepauw was First Violin with the Orchestre de Paris. He began piano studies at the age of three in Paris with Aïda Barenboim (mother of pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim) and furthered his studies with Elena Varvarova, Brigitte Engerer, Vladimir Krainev, Rena Shereshevskaya, James Giles, Ursula Oppens and Earl Wild. He earned degrees from Georgetown University (B.A. in Literature, Film Studies and History) and from Northwestern University (M.M. in Piano Performance). George is a frequent speaker and guest teacher at universities and conferences as well as on radio and television. He also does occasional arts consulting for cultural institutions and festivals and teaches piano to a select number of private students and through master classes. After living for many years in the United States, George is now again primarily based in his native city of Paris.
Photo credit: Tatiana Gorilovsky
