Michael Lavine

Solo Performer at the NYSMS April Meeting

A great collector, musicologist and musical director

by Jerry Laird

Michael Lavine is a very smart, very talented person.  Usually a show is built around very familiar material that almost everyone knows, but Michael built a wonderful show using songs that very few of this audience knew -- and this is a very knowledgeable audience.  he put the emphasis on sheet music, knowing that at least 50% of his audience was performers.  He let us know that there is a lot of music out there that we might have forgotten about...but shouldn't!  For example, one of my earliest movie memories was of a very early science fiction "Just Imagine." But, I didn't remember the song, Never Swat A Fly. Michael did, of course.  He had a huge stack of original sheet music that he went through, every one a crowd pleaser.  Much of it was very bright, although he didn't ignore ballads.  A part of his background is in coaching performers, and helping them put auditions together.  One ballad is enough, reminding them that first and foremost, they are entertainers.  And the audition should entertain, as well as show they have a sense of humor.  He zipped through the music so fast it would be impossible to list all the great songs he used, but it's fun to mention a few.  A song from Top Speed (1929) stands out: "KeepYour Undershirt On."  And among the songs we all know (I think we all know it) is from John Murray Andersons' Almanac - 1929, "I May be Wrong," I know I'm not wrong; I think Michael Lavine is wonderful.

Michael Lavine has worked as a musical director, pianist and singer all over the world.  Here in New York, Michael produced a series of concerts saluting Hollywood performers such as Dick Powell, Alice Faye, Fred Astaire, and Gene Kelly.  He musically directed an all-star tribute to the early works of Frederick Loewe off-Broadway and has conducted orchestras in Wichita, Kansas, Traverse City, Michigan, and Beverly, Mass., among many other cities.  He co-produced the American premiere recording of HONK! which he has musically directed twice.  For those at The New York Sheet Music Society, Michael is primarily known for owning one of the largest privately held sheet music collections in the world.