MICHAEL FEINSTEIN’S TRIBUTE TO TONY BENNETT

Michael Feinstein

In addition to his recognition as one of the leading musical entertainers and piano virtuoso of recent decades, Michael Feinstein’s work as an educator, archivist, interpreter, and Ambassador of the Great American Songbook have established the honored musician as a pre-eminent force in contemporary music. His career as a top-selling and critically acclaimed recording artist, on Broadway, and the world’s great stages has earned him five GRAMMY® Award nominations, a special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre for his Feinstein’s New York venue, two Emmy nominations of his television specials, and acclaim for his NPR series. 

In 2022, Feinstein released to rave reviews, Gershwin Country, an album of standards in duet with some of the biggest names in Country Music from Dolly Parton to Brad Paisley. The same year he made his debut at the legendary Café Carlyle in New York with sold-out performances.

In 2007, Feinstein founded the Great American Songbook Foundation to preserve and elevate America’s rich musical legacy offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars, historians, and performers; and providing educational experiences for students, including the annual high school Songbook Academy®. For over a decade, Michael served as a Founding Member on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board. 

Feinstein was named Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena Symphony in 2012 and made his conducting debut in June 2013. Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana and home to diverse live programming and a museum for Feinstein’s rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Since 1999, he has served as Artistic Director for Carnegie Hall’s “Standard Time with Michael Feinstein” in conjunction with ASCAP. In 2010 he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Michael’s nightclub at San Francisco’s Nikko Hotel, has presented the top talents of pop and jazz since 2013. His first venue in New York, Feinstein’s at the Regency, featured major entertainers such as Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, and Alan Cumming from 1999 to 2012. Feinstein opened a Los Angeles location, Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in June of 2019, in 2021 he launched Feinstein’s at the Hotel Carmichael in Carmel, Indiana and most recently debuted Feinstein’s at The Taper in Los Angeles in 2023.  

Michael was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where he started playing piano at age 5. At 20, Feinstein moved to Los Angeles where he met the widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant who then introduced him to Ira Gershwin. Feinstein became Gershwin’s assistant which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded. Gershwin’s influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein evolved into a captivating performer, composer, and arranger of his own original music. He also has become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington, and Harry Warren.