Composer/Pianist Michael Stephen Brown to Release TWELVE BLOCKS On First Hand Records

On Friday, February 13, 2026, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown will release TWELVE BLOCKS, the first album devoted entirely to his original compositions, on First Hand Records. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Brown brings together some of today's leading performers in a deeply personal collection that spans tributes, intimate character pieces, poetic meditations, and works written for lifelong collaborators.

TWELVE BLOCKS highlights the breadth of Brown's compositional voice, and across 23 tracks, offers a series of musical portraits - of children, collaborators, mentors, and loved ones - rooted in real stories and lived experience. Performers include Brown, Jerome Lowenthal, Ursula Oppens, and Anne-Marie McDermott on piano; soprano Susanna Phillips; violist Paul Neubauer; clarinetist Osmo Vänskä; and violinist Erin Keefe. The cover artwork is by American cartoonist and writer Amy Kurzweil, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker.

Four Lakes for Children (2024)

Written during a month-long residency at Yaddo, the cycle is inspired by the estate's four lakes, each named after the retreat founders' children who tragically died before the age of ten. Brown composed the pieces as playable miniatures for young pianists, each with its own technical puzzle. The final lake, Lake Katrina, has been released as the album's first single OUT NOW!

Pas de trois (2025)

Written for the SPA Trio - Susanna Phillips, Paul Neubauer, and Anne-Marie McDermott - the three-movement work sets poetry by D.H. Lawrence, Rita Dove, and Brown himself. Each movement reflects the personal and artistic presence of its dedicatee, from introspection to humor to transcendence. The third movement, Soprano, will be released as the third single on January 2.

Relationship (2018)

Commissioned by "power couple" Osmo Vänskä and Erin Keefe, this five-movement duo for clarinet and violin traces the drama and charm of a partnership - connection, argument, tenderness, and an exuberant, folk-infused finale "Hora". The opening movement, The Meeting, will be released as the second single on December 12.

Twelve Blocks for Piano (Four Hands) and Poetry (2021)

A tribute to Brown's mentors Jerome Lowenthal and Ursula Oppens, the work weaves together French and English poetry as it marks each block of a walk Lowenthal undertook daily during the pandemic to visit Oppens. The duo premiered They premièred the piece in July 2021 at Saratoga Performing Arts

Center. Their performance is featured on the album, and the movement Twelve Blocks is released as the fourth single on January 16.

Love's Lives Lost (2023)

Brown's song cycle for Susanna Phillips sets eight poems by Evan Shinners that follow two former lovers encountering each other again after years apart. By turns tender, mischievous, and elegiac, the cycle is his response to Schumann's Frauen-Liebe und Leben. It was commissioned by ChamberFest West in Calgary.

Breakup Etude for the Right Hand Alone (2020)

Written during the pandemic when Brown's left hand was immobilized and he'd just experienced the end of a relationship, the etude is a virtuosic outpouring of frustration, humor, and self-reflection - a technically ferocious piece born of isolation and injury.

Pour Angeline (2024)

The album's closing single and final track is an intimate homage to Brown's fiancée, Angeline Gragasin, inspired by Chopin's A-minor Mazurka. A quietly suspended love letter, it unfolds in a single breath. The piece will be released as the final pre-release single on January 30.

TWELVE BLOCKS Tracklist

Michael Stephen Brown (b. 1987) - Four Lakes for Children (2024)

1. I. Lake Alan

2. II. Lake Spencer

3. III. Lake Christina

4. IV. Lake Katrina

Michael Stephen Brown, piano