“A prodigious pianist” (Chicago Tribune) recognized for his “singing tone” (New York Times), and a cultural activist who “likes to shake it up” (Chicago Tribune), George Lepauw uses music and the arts to inspire and bring people together. Named “Chicagoan of the Year (2012) for Classical Music” (Chicago Tribune), George represents the ideal 21st century musician, intensely focused on his art and wholly engaged with the world. 

On February 14th, 2020, George’s first major solo album was released worldwide and unanimously hailed by the press (BBC Music, The Arts Desk, and others): the complete Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach in a 5 CD box-set and on all streaming services released by London-based label Orchid Classics distributed by Naxos. The Bach48 Album also includes a full film of the entire recording, and a 33-minute documentary film about Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and George’s journey to record it in Bach’s Germany, directed by Martin Mirabel and Mariano Nante. Learn more and listen at www.bach48.com.

George has also just released his long-awaited debut album, recorded fifteen years ago but kept out of the public ear: the complete Preludes for piano of Claude Debussy on Orchid Classics! Read more about this unusual circumstance here.

His audio visual album of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, recorded and filmed at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn in 2020, the year of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, will be formally released in mid-2023 on Orchid Classics as well.

A concert pianist since his formal debut at age ten in Paris, George Lepauw has performed ever since as a recitalist, chamber musician, vocal collaborator and soloist with orchestra. He also occasionally collaborates with musicians from other musical genres, including cabaret, musical theater, traditional Chinese and Persian music, flamenco, blues, and pop. 

In 2008 he founded the International Beethoven Project (IBP), a radical non-profit organization creatively bringing together tradition and innovation in classical music, motivated by Beethoven’s indomitable spirit as an artist and humanist, through the production of multi-disciplinary festivals,  special events, and media. He continues to serve as its President and Artistic Director. 

As part of the Beethoven Project Trio, George performed the World Premiere concert in Chicago of a newly-discovered, long-lost piano trio of Beethoven’s in 2009 to great acclaim, followed by a highly-praised first recording on Cedille Records produced by the legendary Max Wilcox.

Over the course of his life, George Lepauw has been deeply engaged in community-building and education through the arts and culture. In college, he co-founded and served as both Vice-President and then President of the French Cultural Association of Georgetown University, working hand in hand with multiple university departments as well as with the French Embassy, the Alliance Française, and other organizations in Washington, DC.

From 2007 to 2010, he founded and published a print magazine, The Journal of a Musician, which featured original articles and interviews with some of classical music’s biggest stars (including Hilary Hahn, Yefim Bronfman, Natalie Dessay, James Conlon, Henri Dutilleux and many more).

In 2014-15, George was Artistic Director of the Chicago Academy of Music, helping to launch an after-school music education program for deserving children of Chicago’s South Side,

Between 2016-18, George served as Executive Director of the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest), leading two festivals over the course of his term which presented dozens of films, live concerts and panel discussions across all genres (rock to pop, classical to world).

George grew up in an artistically engaged family: his sister Consuelo Lepauw is a violinist based in Paris; his father Didier Lepauw was First Violin in the Orchestre de Paris; his grandfather Roger Lepauw was Principal Viola of the Orchestre de Paris and previously of the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris; and his mother Jane Lepauw is a writer and civic activist in support of various causes including music and architecture.

George began piano studies at the age of three in Paris with Aïda Barenboim (mother of Daniel Barenboim) and furthered his studies with Elena Varvarova, Brigitte Engerer, Vladimir Krainev, Rena Shereshevskaya, Ursula Oppens, James Giles, and Earl Wild, among others. Significant supporters and mentors have included Maestro Carlo-Maria Giulini, Maria Curcio, Charles Rosen and Maestro Kurt Masur. 

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with a double major in English Literature and History, and received his Masters of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. George has taught piano privately for over fifteen years, gives master classes around the world, and is a frequent guest speaker at universities and “ideas festivals”. He also makes regular appearances as a performer or speaker on radio and television. He is a founding member of the Chicago Ideas Co-op, a leadership committee of the Chicago Ideas Festival, and has sat on the Grant Park Music Festival Artistic Vision Committee to help bring this legendary American festival to the next generation of music-lovers. 

His current creative projects include recordings, films and multimedia explorations of several composers, as George believes that in this 21st century musicians must make use of visual content to attract younger audiences. Ahead of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s disappearance, George begins his Beethoven journey to record many of his greatest works for piano solo including the complete Sonatas for audio and film formats. George occasionally hosts a podcast, Through The Stage Door, with guests including Ton Koopman, Lucas Debargue, Anderson & Roe, and he writes occasional posts for his personal blogs and other platforms (Orchid Classics, BBC Magazine, French Beethoven Revue).

George is also deeply concerned about the lack of harmony between mankind and nature and hopes, through his personal engagement and future artistic projects, to be part of the necessary reconciliation process humankind needs to engage in toward the environment. The Bach:Source project is an element of his engagement in partnership with visual artist Céline Oms.

George Lepauw shares his time between his two homes of Paris and Chicago. 

You can engage more with George’s vision and work via his writing at https://georgelepauw.ghost.io and through his multifaceted exchanges with
”patrons” at https://www.patreon.com/georgelepauw.

His primary artist photograph is by Céline Oms.