Donemus Webwinkel — Fine, Michael

Michael Fine has a degree in English Literature from the State University of New York. Despite having no formal music education, he has an active international career in several aspects of the music business. He is widely acknowledged as one of the top classical recording producers in the world.
In addition to recording production, Fine is active in artistic planning including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France where he is currently serving as Interim Artistic Director and with the Seoul Philharmonic.
Formerly Vice President of Artists & Repertoire at Deutsche Grammophon, he was the first American to hold the post of Artistic Director of the hundred year old label. In this capacity, Fine produced the label’s top selling releases for 1997, 1998 and 1999, among them A Hymn for the World and Voices from Heaven with Cecilia Bartoli, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel & Myung-Whun Chung, and Anne-Sophie Mutter’s recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Responsible for overseeing the recording activity of the prestigious label, Fine produced many recordings with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Myung-Whun Chung, among others.
Fine also has given lectures, talks, and seminars about the music and recording business – from the Juilliard School and Hamburg Hochschule fur Musik, to the keynote address at the International Organisation of Music Competitions.
He is also a sought-after panelist for music industry congresses, including most recently IAMA (International Association of Music Administrators) and ABO (Association of British Orchestras).
Prior to joining DGG in 1997, he was Vice President & General Manager of KOCH International Classics, a label he launched in 1990 with the critically acclaimed world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles. The international best seller won a GRAMMY Award and appeared on BILLBOARD’s crossover chart. Under Fine’s direction the label quickly developed a reputation as one of the most innovative in the world: as Fanfare Magazine put it: “the most consistently interesting label.”
Despite his busy schedule in Rotterdam and Seoul , Fine continues to produce recordings, and was recently again a Grammy nominee for Classical Producer of the Year. Recordings he has produced appear on labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, SONY, Virgin Classics, EMI, BMG Classics, and Naxos, and have won virtually every major award in the recording industry, including numerous Grammys, Edison Prize, Deutsche Schallplatten (now known as the ECHO award), Grammophone Award, Diapason d’Or, and Australian Music Award among others.
In the past few years, Fine has produced many recordings with renowned artists and ensembles Myung Whun Chung, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Eliahu Inbal, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Emmanuel Pahud, Renaud Capucon, Gautier Capucon, Sumi Jo, Nicholas Angelich, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, and the Quator Ebene among many others.
Recently, Michael began composing as well. The inspirations from his musical memories, his surroundings, and from everyday life, led to his first composition – Quartet Moments. Fine’s output in the short time he has been composing already includes several orchestra scores and chamber music for several instruments.
Awards: GRAMMY Award winning Classical Producer of the Year (1992).
Also, he has multiple Platinum and Gold records to his credit, and has additionally been awarded prizes for his work for the Advancement of Women in Music, and was named Best Recording Producer by Classical Insites Global Classical Music Poll.