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Michael Fitzpatrick

Musician / Producer

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Musician / Producer

Michael Fitzpatrick is the recipient of the Prince Charles Award for Outstanding Musicianship conferred by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. His unique presence and signature sound have captivated audiences from all walks of life, prompting Sylvia Howard Fuhrman, Special-Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to state: "As a close personal friend of Maestro Pablo Casals, I can think of no more exemplary artist."

Mr. Fitzpatrick has shared the stage with His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama for the past fifteen years as part of TUNING THE PLANET - the East-West musical convergence conceived by Fitzpatrick and recorded - and filmed - inside Mammoth Cave, the largest cave in the world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama stated, "The emotion induced by Michael Fitzpatrick’s music is so powerful it seems almost verbalized. It brings peace of mind...and peace to the world." He is currently completing the narrative-film of the epic with Academy Award winner Maria Florio.

Concertizing around the planet, Fitzpatrick’s performance highlights include appearing as soloist at the Hollywood Bowl, the United Nations, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds the Aspen Music Festival, New York’s Town Hall and Merkin Concert Hall, Conseco Fieldhouse Arena, Calgary’s Saddledome Arena, for the historic occasion bringing together His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama and Muhammad Ali, at the historical baptism site at Bethany-beyond-the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Royal Palace for His Majesty King Abdullah II, for Sir George Martin, Producer of The Beatles - and performing as soloist on the United States Capitol West Lawn with His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama.

Hailed by The New York Times as possessing "virtuosity - a sense of humor - and an ear for musical dialogue", "the Destiny of cello" by Rome’s Il Tempo, and by NPR/National Public Radio as "an interpreter of the Muse," Fitzpatrick has appeared on television on PBS’ The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and PBS’ recent feature The Music Instinct: Science and Song, as well as on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and affiliates across the United States.

He has performed as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player in Australia, India, Russia, Romania, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain - in addition to numerous solo tours across the United States and Canada.

Mr. Fitzpatrick served as Music Advisor to Academy Award winner Robert Snyder’s final film, CASALS: A Cry for Peace. He was the soundtrack co-composer for JOURNEY FROM ZANSKAR by Academy Award nominee Frederick Marx, Director of HOOP DREAMS. His cello solos can be heard in music for film and television, including the films ONE and EARTHLINGS, and for Emmy Award winning composer Laura Karpman’s soundtrack to PBS’ CRAFT IN AMERICA.

Mr. Fitzpatrick serves on the Board of Advisors of the Aspen Institute’s Global Forum on Cultural Diplomacy, and is Music Advisor to The Dalai Lama Foundation. He comes from a family of Catalonian, Irish, Ukrainian, French, and Polish descent, including Rose Bein Lerman, pianist to cantor and tenor Jan Peerce, and Bronislaw Huberman, violinist and founder of The Israel Philharmonic.

Studies were at Yale University, New York University, Northwestern University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Principal cellistic study was with Scott Ballantyne, pedagogical heir to Leonard Rose. He is the Founder/Creative Director of Millenia Music based in Los Angeles.