Michael Habermann is a pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and professor at the Peabody Institute

Peabody Institute

The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a renowned conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of Charles and Monument Streets at Mount Vernon Place.-History:...

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His intense study of the music of English-Parsi composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was an English composer, music critic, pianist, and writer.-Biography:...

 has resulted in four recordings. In 1979, Sorabji dedicated a 93-page piano work to him. The topic of his dissertation was Sorabji, with whose music he is internationally associated.

Habermann made his New York debut in 1977 to rave reviews and has since given numerous performances. His recitals have been heard on both the Voice of America and National Public Radio.

His repertoire includes numerous works from all periods. He has given many premiéres of 20th-century works (Casella

Alfredo Casella

Alfredo Casella was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor.- Life and career :Casella was born in Turin; his family included many musicians; his grandfather, a friend of Paganini's, was first cello in the San Carlo Theatre in Lisbon and eventually was soloist in the Royal Chapel in Turin...

, Chávez

Carlos Chávez

Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...

, Fricker

Peter Racine Fricker

Peter Racine Fricker was an English composer who lived in the United States for the last thirty years of his life....

, Halffter

Cristóbal Halffter

Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina is a Spanish composer. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter.-Life:...

, Leighton

Kenneth Leighton

Kenneth Leighton was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include much Anglican church music, and many pieces for choir and for piano as well as concertos, symphonies, much chamber music and an opera. He wrote a well-known setting of the Coventry Carol...

, Ponce, Rieti

Vittorio Rieti

Vittorio Rieti was an Jewish-Italian composer. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Rieti moved to Milan to study economics. He subsequently studied in Rome under Respighi and Casella, and lived there until 1940....

, Silvestre, Sorabji, Spier, etc.) and was the soloist in the world premiére (1975) of Eugene Glickman’s Concerto for Piano and Percussion. He has recorded an album of piano music by the Portuguese composer Alexandre Rey Colaço

Alexandre Rey Colaço

Alexandre Jorge Maria Idalécio Raimundo Rey Colaço was a Portuguese pianist of a French father and Spanish-Portuguese mother.-Life:...

 and other recordings are available.

Habermann now resides in the United States. He has lived in Canada (1957–62), Mexico (1962–72), and speaks fluent French and Spanish. His principal piano instructors have been Fernando Laires, Hilde Somer, and Carlos Vázquez. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Composition from Long Island University

Long Island University

Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...

 (1979). In 1985 he was awarded a Doctorate by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

.

His recent writings include a chapter in a book on Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz    was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...

 edited by David Dubal and a chapter in Sorabji: A Critical Celebration, edited by Paul Rapoport.

As an educator he has wide-ranging personal and classroom teaching experience with children, adults, and degree candidates (at Morgan State University

Morgan State University

Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...

 and Towson State University). He is a popular Peabody Elderhostel lecturer and has also become a sought-after juror for piano competitions.

He is a composer of instrumental, vocal, and piano works, and has written a number of piano transcriptions.