Louis Nagel is Professor Emeritus of Piano at The University of Michigan School of Music Theatre and Dance. Students have said he is “my favorite professor” “really goes above and beyond for his students”, “a brilliant musician”, “caring and awesome”, and “integrity should be his middle name”. Critics have praised him as "deeply satisfying-and a panorama of aural experiences”--“an exciting musical intelligence combined with a brilliant technique”-“a smashing performance of the Liszt B Minor Sonata will not soon be forgotten”-a pedagog, a performer and scholar, all synthesized”.

Winner of the Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in Teaching at The University of Michigan, Louis Nagel has combined his pedagogical and performance career with outreach throughout the United States and abroad.Performances and residencies have reached audiences and students in Israel, Vienna, Russia, England, Australia Taiwan, and Poland. He is equally at home on the concert stage or in retirement homes and OSHER classes for senior citizens.

He has proudly taught some of the most talented graduates of the Music School who have gone on to distinguish themselves in their careers.

Louis Nagel has been called the “go-to” person to prepare for college and conservatory auditions and for those whom aspire to “the next level”.in pianistic and musical artistry. He has a private studio and continues to teach and concertize in solo appearances and in collaboration with his wife Dr. Julie Jaffee Nagel in unique joint master-classes that combine pedagogy and psychology.. A graduate of The Juilliard School, who earned three degrees, his recordings include works of Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Liszt and Balakirev. He is a Steinway Artist.

'Mr. Nagel's interpretation of the Bach shows not only his fine command of the piano, but his constant searching for the true expressive possibilities of this music. His abilities as a pedagogue, as a performer and as a scholar are all synthesized to produce a very convincing result'. Murray Perahia