Once billed as the Westphalian Mozart, German pianist Michael Gees was a genuine child prodigy, although one who shunned the role for a time. His success has extended into middle age and into the less spotlighted role of accompanist as well as those of solo recitalist and concerto player. He has also composed and performed an unusual amount of original music. Gees was born October 9, 1953 in Bielefeld; indeed, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Both his parents were singers, and by age three he had shown a strong predisposition toward the piano. He started lessons at five, won a Hamburg contest sponsored by the Steinway piano maker at eight, and began studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria on a scholarship. He took further lessons at conservatories in Vienna and in Detmold, Germany, and by age 15, he already had a substantial track record of concertizing. Restless and anxious to explore the world of composition, he dropped out at that point and worked for several years at odd jobs: as an archaeological assistant and, for two years, as a sailor. He returned to school, almost by chance, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, immersing himself in composition and jazz at first rather than in piano performance. Finally, on his own, he rebuilt his technique from scratch and returned to concertizing, giving solo concerts in New York, Paris, London, and Tokyo. He began a long career as a lied accompanist with the tenor Christoph Prégardien. Gees has continued to create unusual cross-genre projects, both in his own concerts and with the "forum kunstvereint," which he founded in his adopted hometown of Gelsenkirchen, and the Consol Theater, which has nurtured the music, dance, and theatrical careers of young artists. Gees made his recording debut in 1996 and has recorded for Haenssler, Carus, and most recently Challenge Classics, often offering programs that treat lieder and other works in unusual improvisational ways. In 2017 he released Bach, Mendelssohn: Metamorphosis, the aim of which he described this way: "How can a musical idea develop over and above what has been written down? What would Bach have thought about Mendelssohn? What would have happened had they been able to encourage each other to extemporise on their compositions?" ~ James Manheim, Rovi