Podcast - Ilya Levinson
David Fogel Interviews GRAMMY®-Nominee Ilya Levinson
Ilya Levinson is a Grammy-nominated artist, composer, pianist, and educator based in Chicago, where he has lived since 1988. His wide-ranging body of work includes operas, musicals, orchestral and chamber music, film scores, and original music for theatre. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East by ensembles such as the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarajevo Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and numerous chamber groups and soloists.
Levinson’s work often draws on Eastern European and Jewish musical traditions, reimagined through a contemporary compositional voice. His Klezmer Rhapsody, recorded by the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band on the Shanachie label, was praised by Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein as “deeply rooted in Eastern European Yiddish folk and dance culture… frisky and fun.” As music director, arranger, and pianist of the New Budapest Orpheum Society—ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago—he has been instrumental in reviving and performing the rich repertoire of Jewish cabaret and film music. The ensemble’s Cedille Records album As Dreams Fall Apart: The Golden Age of Jewish Film and Stage Music (1925–1955) received a Grammy nomination in 2016.
In musical theatre, Levinson collaborated with Joanne Koch (book) and Owen Kalt (lyrics) on American Klezmer, produced in Los Angeles by the West Coast Jewish Theatre. Their later collaboration, Raunchy Little Musical, directed and produced by Jimmy Ferraro, premiered in 2018 in Long Island, New York, and was noted for its “original catchy score” (Broadway World). He was an arranger and music director for the reading of the Hearts in the Wood musical (book by Joanne Koch, music and lyrics by Jim Lucas), featuring Robert Hunt (first Broadway revival of Les Misérables).
Levinson has also contributed to music scholarship. His article, Kashchey in Blue: The Rimsky-Korsakov–Schillinger–
A dedicated educator, Levinson is Professor Emeritus at Columbia College Chicago. He continues to be active as a composer-in-residence with American Music Festivals, an organization committed to promoting cultural exchange and American music.
Please enjoy this long-format conversation between David Fogel (CEO, The Symphonina Foundation) and Ilya.