Louis Nagel is Professor Emeritus of Piano and Piano Literature at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He has coupled that responsibility with his lifelong appearances as a concert pianist and lecturer about music. Students have said “he is my favorite professor”, “he really goes above and beyond for his students”, “caring”, and “an exciting and intelligent performer”.
Reviews have cited “a smashing performance of the Liszt Sonata”, “compelling Pictures at an Exhibition” of Mussorgsky, and “a pedagog, performer, and scholar all synthesized” after a program of four of the six Partitas of J.S.Bach.
Winner of the Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in Teaching at the School of Music Theatre and Dance, Dr. Nagel has shared his teaching and performing skills with audiences throughout the United States and abroad. Performances have taken him to Canada, Israel, Taiwan, the then Soviet Union, Italy, Australia, Hungary, and Poland among many international venues.
In the United States, he has been a frequent and popular presenter at national music conferences and local and regional music organizations. He is equally comfortable (and happy) on the concert stage or a senior citizen’s retirement home or study group, and illustrates a variety of repertoire covering the common practice period.
Retired from the university since 2015, he maintains an active interest and devotion to teaching from his home, from his favorite venue at the Kerrytown Concert House, and over zoom. He welcomes inquiries about lessons. A graduate with three degrees from Juilliard, he is a Steinway Artist.
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"I was always very impressed when he played an encore, one of those short pieces which he improvised the spot. They always had a logical beginning, middle and end, I have never run across anyone else to the present day who could do that in that way."
Roman Rudnytsky
International concert pianist and Professor Emeritus
Dana Conservatory -
"Nagel... is a very assured pianist who seems to have polished off his gift to a high degree of artistry In the perfection of this approach to Bach's music, he reminded one strongly of Glenn Gould. The presentation was flawless... For his encore, Nagel decided to do a thing which is fairly common among organists but almost never done today by pianists — improvise. He picked out a simple theme on the middle octave of the piano, and turned it into an excellent etude for the left hand only. It was a fascinating performance."
John Guinn
The Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan -
"Louis Nagel is a pianist with whom I have enjoyed collaborating in Berlin, Budapest and Ann Arbor during the past twenty years. His rare insights, coupled with his total command of the keyboard both technically as well as interpretively make him a conductor’s dream soloist. He is immensely respected by his peers a pedagog and a scholar; his ceaseless energy dedication and respect for the history and present state of the piano world place him among the current giants of the keyboard."
Rico Saccani
Former Director Budapest Philharmonic & Hungarian State Opera
Current Music Director Guiyang Symphony Orchestra