MICAH MCLAURIN

Liberace for the Millennial Generation

BY JAKE DRESSLER

The Juilliard School

Micah McLaurin is destined to become the Liberace of the Millennial generation. He started playing the piano at the age of eight and spent his childhood studying under some of America’s most notable classical pianists including Enrique Graf and Gary Graffman. When he was nineteen, he attended the Curtis Institute of Music, one of the best music schools in the country, before attending The Juilliard School for his master’s degree. When McLaurin was fourteen years old, he played his first solo performance with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, at 16 he played with the Cleveland Orchestra. Since then, he’s played all over the world at music festivals and concert halls including Lincoln Center. He’s also played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Orquestra Filarmónica de Montevideo. Micah’s won numerous awards including the Gilmore Young Artist award that picks two of the nation’s most talented up-and-coming musicians every year.

Rhapsody in Gaga

Micah’s performances fuse two of his passions. Layered on top of Micah’s playing is his obsession with fashion. His Instagram account, which boasts 117k followers, features his favorite outfits, some of which were designed by Zaldy,

the designer who’s worked with Michael Jackson, Lada Gaga, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and RuPaul. Zaldy and Micah’s collaborations have resulted in some unique creations, including their Royal Covid mask with gold-encrusted diamonds hanging off both sides. He wore the powder blue mask with a matching suit for his first post-Covid performance at the High Line Nine. Micah also worked with Zaldy on Rhapsody in Gaga an arrangement of Lady Gaga’s songs “Bad Romance” and “Paparazzi” that has just been released on YouTube.

Instagram & YouTube

The 27-year-old has been performing since he was a child protégé .From the time he first laid his fingers on the piano he became hooked. He remembers being consumed with piano during his childhood. He never focused on school because he knew he was destined to become a pianist. Micah’s education at Curtis also unlocked a newfound love for fashion. “I only wore hand-me-down clothes; I never had the chance to go shopping until I went to Curtis. I saw things with crystals, and it really caught my eye. It really developed my taste for fashion,” Micah said. Through social media, Micah is helping create a new national appreciation of classical music. “It’s interesting how Chopin has millions of monthly listeners on Spotify,” Micah said, “Even some pop artists don’t have that.”

Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue

“ My mom got a book called Teach Yourself How to Play Piano and tried to sit us all down and teach us. When she gave up, I started going through it on my own and figured things out for myself. I was the 3rd of 7 children: 3 boys ,4 girls. It was pretty crazy; I shared a room with my two brothers for most of my life. I went to a Catholic school at one point and dropped out. I wanted to be homeschooled because I wanted to play piano; I really didn’t like school because I was too obsessed with piano to care. When I first started, I remember vividly how much I loved the sound. It’s so powerful, it’s so beautiful. It encompasses so many emotions, you play the whole piece - the melody, the bass, the accompaniment - you experience the whole work and the whole emotion. With the piano it’s complete, you have all the parts in one place. It can pretty much do anything; it almost has no limits, other than you can’t sustain a note it will die out.” This summer Micah’s doing a tour in Italy with the cellist Ludovica Lana . “ We’re playing all Chopin. I’m also performing Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue in Germany. It’s going to be the world premiere.P

“ I SAW THINGS WITH CRYSTALS, AND IT REALLY CAUGHT MY EYE. IT REALLY DEVELOPED MY TASTE FOR FASHION”