“A pianist’s pianist… stunning and highly illuminating performances”

— AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

SELECTED CONCERT REVIEWS

“The intensity Mr. Levingston clearly felt was transmitted in his introspective, dreamy performance.”
– The New York Times. Through Erik Satie's Music, a Trip Back in Time to the Soundless and the Surreal

“Levingston’s playing is a joy”
– Financial Times

“The music is Philip Glass's 'A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close' (given a commanding live onstage performance by Bruce Levingston)...”
– The Boston Globe. Boston Ballet's challenging 'Close to Chuck'

“…transparency and timeless reverie, which Levingston projected beautifully”
– The Washington Post. Jacobsen and Levingston at Library of Congress

“...consistently graced by Mr. Levingston’s sensitive playing”
– Wall Street Journal. ‘Trio Concertdance’ and ‘Rising’ Reviews

“Levingston’s playing was sublime throughout...”
– Backtrack. Five Stars

“...a showcase for the American pianist Bruce Levingston whose vivid hands floating over the keys is like a dance in itself.”
– The New York Times. Review: Alessandra Ferri, Herman Cornejo and Piano Makes Three

“An elegant performer, he was passionate and intense.... Levingston has a powerful stage presence.... He has a special ability to captivate not only the ears of his audience, but their hearts as well.”
– DCMetroTheaterArts. Five Stars

“…driven by ideas and filled with music old, new and well worth hearing….Mr. Levingston's technique was at its best”
– The New York Times. A Little Offbeat Humor in Cyclical Exploration

“...warm and sinuous piano lines...Levingston and Brooklyn Rider played perfectly in sync.”
– Backtrack. Premiere Commission Celebrates 10 Years of New Music at (Le) Poisson Rouge

“…pianist Bruce Levingston essays Glass's elegiac score with consummate artistry”
– The Hub Review. Boston Ballet gets Close to cutting Edge

“…a hauntingly serene performance by Mr. Levingston and Mr. Jacobsen”
– The New York Times. Premiere Commission Holds Gala, With a Premiere by Lisa Bielawa

“Mr. Levingston played with a delicate touch and painted in subtle hues…. a graceful account.”
– The New York Times. A Pianist Turns the Tables on a Portrait Painter

“good taste...intrepid playing...sensuous sound”
– The New York Times. Sprinting Across All 88 Keys

“Bruce Levingston was the most “piano-soloist” of all and he performed with Lisztian élan. #12 was a majestic, shimmering piece that he managed to play with both energy and tenderness.”
– I care if you listen. Practice, practice, practice: Philip Glass’s Complete Piano Etudes at BAM

“Three splendid talents, individually and together… [Levingston’s] hands suggesting an elegant choreography of their own.”
– The Times (London)

“All are exquisitely played by Levingston, on stage for the whole 65 minutes, hands as graceful as the dancers he’s performing for.”
– The Evening Standard (London)

“sensitive playing... masterful... The whole thing is classy, unsensational, grown-up and very beautiful”
– The Guardian (London

“beautifully accompanied throughout by pianist Bruce Levingston”
– The Telegraph (London)

“Alessandra Ferri, American Ballet Theater Principal dancer Herman Cornejo and pianist Bruce Levingston are so in tune with each other that one watches the music course through Levingston’s body as much as the two dancers. TRIO ConcertDance is five stars and some. I didn't want the evening, far too short at seventy minutes, to end.”
– British Theatre Review

“Bruce Levingston seamlessly sews this programme together. His playing throughout was superb.”
– Dance Tabs

“Both Liszt’s daunting Vallée d’Obermann and Mr. Currier’s absorbing and exquisitely crafted Departures and Arrivals seemed not only played but lived through, musical diaries that seamlessly mixed the composers’ thoughts with those of their interpreter. Composers cherish these kinds of concerts; the Premiere Commission series should go on forever.”
— New York Observer

Bruce Levingston was the most “piano-soloist” of all and he performed with Lisztian élan. #12 was a majestic, shimmering piece that he managed to play with both energy and tenderness.”
— I care if you listen

“Exquisite piano playing”
— Critical Dance

“Alessandra Ferri, American Ballet Theater Principal dancer Herman Cornejo and pianist Bruce Levingston are so in tune with each other that one watches the music course through Levingston’s body as much as the two dancers. Levingston’s playing of [ Glass’ ] Etudes 2, 5 and 6 is also a wonder to behold.”
— British Theatre Guide

“pianism on a grand scale... pure excellence.”

— MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

RECORDINGS

WITHOUT WORDS

“Flawless... Levingston is one of today’s most streamed classical artists and it’s clear to see why; his mastery of his instrument is awe-inspiring...”
—Take Effect

“A new recording by American pianist Bruce Levingston makes us rethink Mendelssohn’s creation....improvisatory and magical all at once…. Bruce Levingston’s performance captures both the poignancy of Walden’s commission and the ways that Mendelssohn wrote for his different audiences.”
— Interlude

“Exquisite material exquisitely performed...executed with consummate poise. No song is lovelier than the closing “Lullaby,” which Levingston imbues with a heartrending tenderness. That he's as respected a writer as he is is a pianist is borne out by his astute commentaries on the works presented.”
— textura ( Top 20 albums of 2023 )

“Beautiful pianism from Levingston… exquisite playing… intelligent readings and a rollicking sense of fun.”
Recording: ****/**** Performance ****/****
— Cinemusical

“Here are 14 of Mendelssohn’s delights…. played most expressively… well-executed, beautifully recorded...”
— The American Record Guide

“Played by Levingston with sensitivity and limpidity….Levingston excels at extracting the warmth and beauty of these pieces.”
— Infodad Four Stars

“a marvellous listening experience….Levingston brings out the depth of feelings they contain. You will be enchanted.”
— NativeDSD

“an elegant little album of Romantic and neo-Romantic music. Mendelssohn lovers will certainly find this release of interest.”
— James Manheim ALLMusic

“Bruce Levingston's insights into Mendelssohn provide many moments of delight – his ever-sensitive approach bringing out everything that is joyful about that chapter of Mendelssohn’s oeuvre. A winner through and through.”
— All About The Arts, Rafael de Acha

PRELUDE TO DAWN

“Levingston’s playing is, as ever, exquisite, his touch and phrasing impeccable... The greatest pleasure, however, lies simply in witnessing Levingston's artistry in play and attending to the music's nuanced unfolding in his hands. Leaving the recording, one imagines it could be played two hundred years from now and the experience would be no less rewarding.”
— Textura February 2021

"Bach’s Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, S 998 is performed with gentle directness and speaks with an expressiveness that is never overdone. The mighty Theme and Variations in D minor, Op. 18b by Brahms concludes this uncommon recital…. Levingston captures our attention without artifice or willfulness. Excellent forward sound, and the pianist’s own expressive notes add to the joy this recording brings to the soul.”
— The American Record Guide May/June 2021

“Pianist Bruce Levingston’s latest release has such a satisfying symmetry, logic, and consistency of tone that makes it hard not to listen all the way through... There’s a necessary focus on melodic line and dramatic shaping and Levingston responds with subtle dynamic contouring and judicious pacing…. Levingston concludes quietly, yet majestically, with Brahms’ Theme and Variations in D Minor, Op.18b.”
—Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound July 30, 2021 ( Five Stars )

“Levingston’s technique is as impressive as always…. one of the best-sounding solo piano discs I've heard in ages. Brahms’s Theme and Variations in D minor makes for an apt closer. Levingston's restraint in the fifth variation is something to behold, as is his handling of the radiant major key close.”
—Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk July 2021

“Bach and Brahms, played with an intense, even defiant quality that does seem to pertain to the moment in history... and a late Brahms chorale prelude, is an especially compelling utterance, both complex and consoling. With excellent Sono Luminus Studios sound, this is an approachable release for many kinds of listeners.”
**** ( Four Stars )
—James Mannheim, AllMusic Review April 2021

“Bruce Levingston’s magisterial playing of this music reaffirms his position as one of America’s great pianists.”
—Rafael de Acha, All About The Arts January 2021

“perfectly voiced… through great variety of articulation and tone colour, the [Chaconne’s] 64 variations remain fascinating and in character. Levingston’s pedalling is especially good in clarifying bass, melody, inner parts and chord structure. Levingston’s flowing prelude and the meticulously articulated fugue with its unusual broken-chord interlude especially captured my interest…. recent trying times are a subtext here, but so are notes of passion and hope in Prelude to Dawn.”
—The WholeNote Summer Issue 2021, Roger Knox

CITIZEN

“...the theme of the whole album is citizenship, the struggle to achieve it and the sense of belonging that results. Those threads are served beautifully by Levingston's masterful playing…”
— Hi-Fi News

“exquisite command of phrasing, tempo, and dynamics to produce seemingly definitive interpretations….nuanced performances of remarkable depth”
—Textura Top Albums of the Year, March 2019

“An absorbing musical study of citizenship and human rights.”
– Apple, iTunes A List

“Levingston plays with a marvelous sense of pacing, emphasis, and balance. These renditions are full of thought; and, since he is completely beyond technique, he can express whatever he wants. The resonant sound of the piano is a pleasure to hear….”
—American Record Guide, May/ June 2019

“Most of the music on this CD is slow, quiet, and spare, yet giving yourself over to it for even a portion of its 71-minute running time is profoundly cathartic. The piano recording has exceptional presence with an excellent sense of the instrument’s volume. Five Stars.”
—The Absolute Sound, May/June 2019

“The mix of compositions both contemporary and Romantic, American and European, old and new featured in this recording is brilliantly played, amply justified, and insightfully annotated in straightforward prose by the ever questing Bruce Levingston….This CD’s gathering of voices that celebrate the civility and brotherly love quintessential to what is American or more simply put, what it means to be a member of the human race, is a noble undertaking underpinned by the artistic excellence and commitment of its curator and pianist, Bruce Levingston, a notable artist who brings the album to an end with a profoundly touching ‘Amazing Grace’.”
—All About The Arts Rafael de Acha

“Levingston’s playing is lithe and full-voiced throughout. He has an admirable ability to preserve the clarity of each strand in a densely woven contrapuntal texture, crafting a compelling whole without obscuring its parts. His phrasing is subtle, nuanced shadings of tone playing against each other to illuminate the underlying musical structure...expert control... Citizenadds to a much-needed conversation….”
—National Sawdust Log

“The final tracks go to Price Walden whose Sacred Spaces is a profoundly moving remembrance of the countless churches where AfricanAmericans gathered and contributed to their sense of community. His arrangement of Amazing Grace closes the recording.It’s a straightforward structure that uses some extraordinary harmonic transitions to make this iconic hymn even more meaningful in the context of the disc. This recording by Bruce Levingston is far more than a simple CD. It’s a meditation on one of the central issues of our time and can only benefit from being heard and experienced in that way.”
—The Whole Note, March 2019

“An intriguing and valuable concept lies beyond this disc…interesting premieres and sensitive pianism”
—BBC 2019

“…the neo-Impressionistic harmonic language of William Grant Still's Summerland is handled with careful textural deployment and narrative beauty. The music also inspires some of Levingston's most sensitive and polished playing…”
—Gramophone April 2019

“…the ability to shape and sustain long lines with both intensity and tenderness…”
— Jed Distler, Between the Keys, WWFM: The Classical Network

“…the theme of the whole album is citizenship, the struggle to achieve it and the sense of belonging that results. Those threads are served beautifully by Levingston’s masterful playing, and realised by a gloriously open recording.”
— Hi-Fi News Album Choice (United Kingdom), September 2019

“The Performances by Levingston are thoroughly artistic in the interpretive manner of the best of the great pianists.”
— Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review, July 2019

“...this latest collection from an impressively erudite musician is another keeper.”
— The Arts Desk, July 2019

WINDOWS

“The impeccable command for which Levingston's become known are again evident, this time in an inspired set-list that achieves a satisfying rapprochement between old and new—if, that is, it's fair to brand Schumann's timeless works old.... The range of emotional expression and technical command he demonstrates in this performance is exceptional.”
– Textura, February 2018. Top Albums of the Year

“impressive textural and emotional variety.... Sono Luminus’s resonantly ample engineering particularly lends itself to Matheson’s vibrant writing and Levingston’s compelling, colourful pianism.”
– Gramophone, March 2018

“[Levingston’s] Kinderszenen shows affection and clarity of thought”
– American Record Guide, May/June 2018

“A reflective disc with Schumann effectively placed alongside two contemporary American composers… played with character.”
– Four Stars, BBC Magazine, March 2018

“Pianist Bruce Levingston unites seemingly disparate works in a fascinating musical collage. David Bruce’s Schumann-inspired The Shadow of the Blackbird is the dark, foreboding partner to Schumann’s own Kinderszenen, a charming, many-layered portrait of the innocences of youth. Levingston’s performance is gentle, delicate, and winsome, his “Träumerei” gorgeously slow and deeply affecting. James Matheson’s Windows seeks, like Schumann’s music, to bring contrasting elements together in one work—here Matheson pays homage to the exquisitely colored stained glass windows of Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse with music that dances, flits, and refracts.”
– iTunes Review, January 2018

“Bruce Levingston gives a sensitive, soulful, interpretation of Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood (Kinderszenen)…. then caps the Schumann section of the CD with an idiomatically flawless Arabesque. The programming of these three composers’ works in one CD is daring and utterly successful…. over an hour of pleasure, thanks to the devotedly committed playing of Bruce Levingston, an elegant musician whose playing is ever self-effacing and always at the service of the music. This Sono Luminus elegantly packaged, well engineered and intelligently annotated release should be a welcome addition to the libraries of those who, like this writer, love great piano music in the hands of master players.”
– All About The Arts (Rafael’s Music Notes), January 2018

“beautiful... Not since Horowitz played this as the encore in his 1986 Moscow concert near the end of his life, have I heard such playing. Words completely fail. Levingston brings this approach to the whole piece and thereby creates something quite unlike anything recorded of late.”
– The Whole Note, March 2018

DREAMING AWAKE

Textura Top Albums of the Year
“...pianist Bruce Levingston shows himself on this double-CD set to be an ideal interpreter of Glass's work. Inaugurating the release with “Etude No. 2” proves to be a masterstroke for the way in which the pianist's sensitive rendering invites a renewed appreciation for Glass's artistry.... his softer touch brings forth even more vividly the inherent musicality of the compositions, a case in point his delicate, understated rendering of “Metamorphosis II.” No performance of a given work can ever be said to be definitive, but Levingston's certainly come close to seeming so, and one imagines Glass would endorse these versions without reservation.”
– Textura, December 2016

WQXR-Q2 Album of the week
“[ a ] passionate and spontaneous portrait of the composer.... Dreaming Awake (Sono Luminus) is a boldly individual approach to the keyboard works of an American master. Even Levingston's stellar choice of collaborator fits the bill…. Levingston recruits thespian Ethan Hawke, Hollywood's Gen-X embodiment of Romanticism, and Hawke's breathless delivery is absolutely of a piece with the almost cinematic heroics of Levingston's vision for these pathbreaking works.”
– Review by Daniel Stephen Johnson for Album of the Week, WQXR-Q2

“One of the best Glass piano programs I have ever heard.”
– The American Record Guide

“Wichita Vortex Sutra, with its subtle shifts of color....includes a brilliant reading of excerpts from Allen Ginsberg’s stream-of-consciousness anti-war poem of the same name by Ethan Hawke... highly recommended.”
– Gramophone

“The image of the great eye that stands out on the cover of this unmissable double CD of Sono Luminus, although it refers in all likelihood to the song that gives the title track, can be used as a metaphor for Philip Glass's music, especially that performed here by the extraordinary pianist Bruce Levingston.... Levingston understands this duality, and knows when and how to give breath to the ornaments, bring out the melodic design, enhance the rhythmic motor engine, with an exquisite touch, sense of space, dramatic pathos and an overview that makes him the ideal interpreter of these intense works.”
– Philip Focosi for Kathodik Ezine (Italy), Five Stars

“The musical colors are incredibly poignant in this tribute to American painter Chuck Close…. Glass depicts this emotional battle in the music, Levingston communicates it with his playing, and the producers at Sono Luminus record it with such master, yielding a stand-out new release in the contemporary classical realm.”
– Second Inversion

“...this collection of shorter piano pieces is a revelation... They're pure, distilled essence of Glass. These études charm, entertain and move by turns. Glass’s friend and collaborator Bruce Levingston commissioned several of them, and he’s a persuasive, expansive guide. The dexterity and accuracy are thrilling... [Ethan Hawke and Bruce Levingston] perform as if their lives depend on it, the collective positivity oozing out of the speakers. Wichita Vortex’s optimism alone makes this a mandatory purchase. Sono Luminus's production values are predictably high. An essential Glass anthology….”
– The Arts Desk, Graham Rickson, April 15, 2017

“Levingston’s interpretations are unusually thoughtful and sensitive, with a clarity of touch that brings a welcome sense of textural interest. One highlight is the collaborative performance of Wichita Vortex Sutra for piano and spoken word; based on the antiwar sentiments of the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg; the work is beautifully narrated by Ethan Hawke.”
– Clavier Companion, Vanessa Corbett, January 2017

“This CD is a very fine tribute to the composer’s career…. Lovers of Glass will be happy about this release….”
– Audiophile Audition, 2018

“a superbly planned program…. Levingston gives a rich and colourful performance. His playing reveals a deep understanding of the music and its composer. Levingston is a master in this genre, with complete interpretive access to Glass’ work, whether originating in poetic protest or the cinema, whether written for study or meditation.”
-The Whole Note, April 2017 (Canada)

“A pianist celebrated for his devotion to performing contemporary repertoire, Levingston has included a selection of Glass’s piano études – poetic distillations of his composition method in which musical process and substance become one. With poetry its driving force, in words or music, the album proves both seductive and hypnotic.”
– Primephonic, August 2018

HEAVY SLEEP

“A ground breaking pianist ….works his minimalist magic on Bach”
— Midwest Record December 2014

“Pianist Bruce Levingston lives up to his brilliant reputation for colorful, vibrant and intensely probing interpretations on his new disc from Sono Luminus... Levingston offers amazing insight and virtuosic performance.”
— AXS.com

“a solo recital that shimmers with Mr. Levingston's mastery of colors and nuance.”
– The New York Times. Best Classical Recordings of 2015

“Death and rebirth are the themes of this deeply personal, exquisite album.”
– The New York Times

“…a sublime disc… the Bach-Siloti Prelude in B Minor is gorgeously played…Levingston's flawless technique always serves the music.”
– The Arts Desk

“Heavy Sleep is a considerably meditative effort bookended by its highlights–two world premiere recordings of works by two of the United States’ luminaries in contemporary composition, left to the hands (figurative and literal) of a caring and virtuosic leader in the field.”
– I Care if You Listen

“Pianist Bruce Levingston is a great proponent of contemporary music….Levingston has a great stage presence and conveys depth with every performance…”
– Audiophile Audition

“…richly idiosyncratic playing... a tremendous range of dynamics and sonority”
– ConcertoNet

“Bruce Levingston is a pianistic poet of the highest sort. The right pianist with the right imagination can fashion a program that is very...right. Pianist Bruce Levingston has done this vividly on his album Heavy Sleep (Sono Luminus 92183)...a winner on every count.”
– Classical Modern Music

STILL SOUND

“...as if by magic, Levingston locates the pulse of each new track so unerringly... luminous... deeply poetic... unabashedly gorgeous lyricism.”
– Gramophone

“...extraordinary gifts as a colorist and as a performer who can hold attention rapt with the softest of playing.”
– MusicWeb International Recording of the Month

“Bruce Levingston is a gifted pianist... these performances compete with any other I have heard... the performances are wonderful!”
– Audiophile Audition

“Pianist Bruce Levingston's new Still Sound is a gorgeously conceptual album... a knockout... a quietly powerful reminder of why Levingston has become the go-to pianist for many of this era's most intriguing composers.”
– Lucid Culture