Michael Rainwater — Concert Pianist, Arranger & Producer
Pianist · Arranger · Producer
About
Classical elegance
meets a bold, new edge.
Born in Atlanta and playing piano since age three, Michael Rainwater fuses centuries-old classical elegance with a bold, pop-driven edge. He has enthralled audiences at world-class venues like Carnegie Hall and Cobb Energy Centre, placing the piano at the heart of lush, immersive sonic landscapes that redefine familiar melodies.
Press & Media
In the Spotlight
Milton Herald
“Milton piano virtuoso selected to perform in NBC special benefiting children’s hospital.”
Atlantan Magazine
“On the rise and just getting started.”
Voyage Atlanta
“Michael blends classical roots with a fresh, contemporary sound.”
Sheet Music & More
The Editions
Great Balls of Fire
$29
Video Killed the Radio Star
$39
Prelude/Angry Young Man
$29Get in Touch
Bring Your Vision to Life
For performance inquiries, arrangement commissions, or collaboration opportunities, please reach out.
Get in TouchPianist · Arranger · Producer
Michael
Rainwater
Biography
Classical elegance
meets a bold,
new edge.
Born in Atlanta and playing piano since age three, Michael Rainwater fuses centuries-old classical elegance with a bold, pop-driven edge. He has enthralled audiences at world-class venues like Carnegie Hall and Cobb Energy Centre, placing the piano at the heart of lush, immersive sonic landscapes that redefine familiar melodies.
Featured on countless television specials, concerts, and benefits as well as in top magazines and newspapers, Rainwater's artistry now commands global attention. As both an arranger and producer, he reshapes tradition for a new era — where timeless artistry meets limitless possibility. Michael is also the creator of Classical Not Classical, a rock-symphony project that rebuilds anthems with classical architecture.
Music is enough for a whole lifetime — but a lifetime is not enough for music.— Sergei Rachmaninoff
Roots & Training
Carnegie Hall
at Sixteen
Beginning formal piano training at age three, Michael's disciplined technique and expressive depth set him apart from the start. By his teenage years he had performed at Carnegie Hall, Cobb Energy Centre, Ferst Performing Arts Centre, and the City Springs Performing Arts Center. His 2020 First Prize at the Crescendo International Piano Competition signaled his arrival as a formidable presence in both classical and contemporary music.
Arrangements & Production
Reshaping
Tradition
Since age eleven, Michael has crafted unique scores blending classical grandeur with pop, jazz, and rock. His arrangement of Great Balls of Fire garnered widespread acclaim, launching a series of scored pieces that earned top ratings on Musicnotes and SheetMusicPlus. Drawing from Perry Como, Elvis Presley, and Andy Williams, he continually enriches the piano's role with orchestral textures. His 2022 production of Back To Black featured a personally formed orchestra.
Giving Back
$7 Million
Raised
Beyond the concert hall, Michael is a five-time featured soloist at the Tower of Talent charity concert, raising funds for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and their music therapy program. His performances have helped generate over $7 million for this vital cause. He has also lent his talents to the DELVIS Sings for Autism Change foundation, demonstrating that musical excellence can be a powerful force for social good.
Press & Media
In the
Spotlight
Selected press coverage and media features. For press inquiries, interview requests, or media kits, please reach out through the contact page.
Milton piano virtuoso selected to perform in NBC special benefiting children's hospital.
On the rise and just getting started.
Michael blends classical roots with a fresh, contemporary sound.
Michael is quite an accomplished pianist as well as a composer and arranger.
Using arrangement to bring out a side of the piano people aren't familiar with.
His arrangements cast the piano in a new light, blending classical depth with contemporary sound.
Get in Touch
Bring Your
Vision to Life.
Inquiries
Let's create something
worth remembering.
For performance inquiries, arrangement commissions, or collaboration opportunities, please contact manager Rick Kanfer. Michael is available for concert performances, private events, arrangement commissions, production collaborations, and speaking engagements.
Photography
In the
Frame
THE EDITIONS
Sheet Music & More
The Project
Classical Not
Classical
Classical Not Classical is a rock-symphony project founded by concert pianist Michael Rainwater that rebuilds anthems from rock, pop, and cinema with classical piano architecture. It is not a genre — it is a philosophy: that the boundary between classical and contemporary music was always thinner than we imagined, and that the piano is the instrument best suited to prove it.
The Philosophy
Where most crossover projects simplify one tradition to fit another, Classical Not Classical does the opposite. Every arrangement begins with the original recording and deconstructs it — isolating the harmonic skeleton, the rhythmic pulse, the emotional arc — then rebuilds it from the ground up using classical compositional technique. The result is music that honours both worlds without diluting either: a rock anthem that sounds inevitable on a Steinway, a pop ballad whose structure reveals hidden counterpoint, a film score distilled to its purest melodic essence.
The project grew from Rainwater's lifelong conviction that the piano can carry any genre on its shoulders if the arrangement is ambitious enough. Beginning at age eleven, he started scoring pieces that merged classical grandeur with the energy of rock and pop. Those early sketches evolved into a library of published works that have earned top ratings on Musicnotes and SheetMusicPlus, performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to Cobb Energy Centre.
The Editions & Recordings
Classical Not Classical publishes its arrangements through The Editions, a curated sheet music catalog offering advanced piano solo and ensemble scores. Featured titles include concert arrangements of Great Balls of Fire, Video Killed the Radio Star, Prelude/Angry Young Man, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World — each scored with the detail and ambition of a classical etude, but with the visceral energy of the original recording intact.
Beyond sheet music, the project releases studio recordings that bring these arrangements to life. The orchestral reimagining of Video Killed the Radio Star pairs piano with full orchestra in a cinematic treatment that exemplifies the Classical Not Classical ethos. Rainwater's 2020 album THIS IS PIANO captures the breadth of the project's ambitions across a range of styles and sources, from holiday classics to rock standards.
Where It Lives
Classical Not Classical maintains its own home at classicalnotclassical.com, where the brand's recordings, videos, and story continue to expand. The project is not a side venture — it is the lens through which Rainwater views the entire piano repertoire: a conviction that every great melody, regardless of origin, deserves the full weight of classical craft.
Live Piano for Senior Communities
The Songs They Already Know.
Played Live, Just for Them.
There's a difference between background music and a moment that brings a room to life. Michael performs live solo piano for assisted living communities, memory care residences, and senior living facilities across Greater Atlanta. The repertoire spans decades of American popular music, from the Great American Songbook and Sinatra to Elvis, the Beatles, Billy Joel, Motown, and the classic hymns, all drawn from the era your residents know by heart.
The result isn't a concert. It's a room full of people singing along, tapping their feet, calling out requests, and reconnecting with music that's been part of their lives for decades.
Meet the Pianist
Michael Rainwater
Born in Atlanta and playing piano since age three, Michael Rainwater fuses classical elegance with a bold, contemporary edge. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Cobb Energy Centre, and the City Springs Performing Arts Center, and won First Prize at the 2020 Crescendo International Piano Competition.
A five-time featured soloist at the Tower of Talent charity concert series, Michael has helped raise over $7 million for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. As both an arranger and producer, he reshapes tradition for a new era, and his work has been featured in top magazines and television specials across the country.
For senior communities, Michael brings that same artistry to a more intimate setting, performing the songs your residents grew up with, live and in person.
Fourteen Themed Programs.
One Piano. A Lifetime of Music.
Every performance is built from a deep repertoire of familiar songs, organized into themed programs designed to give your residents a different experience each visit. Book one show or rotate through several across the calendar year.
Standards & Stardust: An Evening of Jazz & Sinatra
The sophisticated side of the songbook. Think Fly Me to the Moon, My Way, and the timeless jazz standards your residents slow-danced to. Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and the Great American Songbook performed with warmth and swing.
Side B: The Singer-Songwriter Sessions
The iconic piano-driven songs of Billy Joel, Elton John, the Beatles, and the writers who defined a generation of popular music. If your residents ever sang along to the radio, they'll sing along to this.
Music of a Lifetime: Songs Everybody Knows
The crowd-pleaser. A carefully paced mix across eras and genres, including standards, rock and roll, Motown, and show tunes, designed so everyone in the room hears something they love.
Heartstrings: Love Songs & Slow Dances
The most beautiful love songs ever written, from Unchained Melody to Can't Help Falling in Love. Performed with the kind of warmth and space that lets a room get quiet in the best possible way.
Her Songs: The Women Who Made Us Sing
The unforgettable voices and songs of the women who shaped American music, from Patsy Cline and Aretha Franklin to Barbra Streisand.
Jailhouse Rock: A Rock & Roll Piano Show
The upbeat, high-energy side of the catalog. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the early rock and roll piano tradition, the kind of music that gets a room moving and clapping along.
My Girl: A Soul & Motown Evening
Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Gladys Knight, and the unmistakable sound of Motown and classic soul. Warm, rhythmic, and impossible not to move to.
God Bless America: An American Songbook
A patriotic program built around the songs that define the American experience. Ideal for Independence Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, or any occasion that calls for something meaningful.
The Silver Screen: An Evening at the Movies
The great movie themes your residents remember, from Casablanca and Breakfast at Tiffany's to The Godfather and Titanic.
O Holy Night & Friends: A Sacred Christmas
A reverent program of beloved Christmas hymns and sacred favorites. Ideal for faith-based communities or residents who connect deeply with the spiritual side of the season.
HolidayChestnuts Roasting: A Holiday Sing-Along
The festive standards everyone knows the words to, performed as a true sing-along, the kind of holiday program residents and their families look forward to every year.
HolidaySongs for Slow Dancing: A Valentine's Evening
A romantic program of the love songs that defined an era of elegance, perfect for a Valentine's Day event that feels like something special.
SeasonalSongs Your Mother Loves: A Mother's Day Matinee
A warm, emotional program celebrating the songs mothers have always loved, ideal for a Mother's Day gathering where families and residents can share the afternoon together.
SeasonalThe Countdown: A New Year's Eve Celebration
A high-energy program that builds toward midnight with upbeat favorites and the kind of songs that make a room feel like a party.
SeasonalWhy Live Piano
Changes the Room
They already know every word.
This isn't new music. It's their music: songs from the 1940s through the 1980s that are woven into the fabric of your residents' lives. Recognition is what drives engagement, and engagement is what makes a program worth repeating.
It's interactive, not passive.
Residents sing along. They hum. They tap the table. They request songs. Live music in a common area creates a fundamentally different energy than a playlist or a TV screen. It invites participation.
Every visit feels different.
With fourteen distinct programs and a deep catalog of songs in rotation, you can book multiple performances across the year without repeating the same show. Seasonal programs give you a ready-made calendar of events your residents and their families look forward to.
How It Works
Flexible setup for your space.
Whether your community has a piano on site or needs a full instrument provided, Michael arrives with everything required to perform in your common area, chapel, dining room, or activity space. Just tell us about your room and we'll take care of the rest.
Professional and self-contained.
Michael arrives early, sets up independently, communicates directly with your activities team, and keeps the program running on time. No sound system required. No complicated logistics. One pianist, one piano, one hour of music your residents will talk about all week.
Booking is simple.
Choose a program from the list above, or describe what you're looking for and we'll recommend the right fit. We handle scheduling, confirmations, and follow-up so your team can focus on your residents.
Book a Show
To check availability, discuss programming for your community, or schedule a performance:
Whether you're planning a single event or looking to build live music into your regular activities calendar, we'd love to hear from you.