Michael enjoys performing as a soloist as well as collaborating with a wide range of artists within many different musical communities. He is a recent alum of Ensemble Connect — a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. The fellowship brings together many facets that Michael is passionate about: performing, teaching, outreach, and developing unique roles as a creator and presenter.
Michael has performed throughout New York, the United States, and Europe in a variety of venues, including Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Steinway Hall, Bernard Haitink Hall, Subculture, Merkin Hall, and the Mondavi Center. His performances have also been featured on WQXR, WFMT, and Wisconsin Public Radio. He has made appearances at festivals such as Music@Menlo, Tanglewood, Northfolk, and Vivo.
A proponent of New Music, he has premiered works by major American composers such as Meredith Monk and Stacy Garrup and worked with other major composers like Kaija Saariaho, Martin Bresnick. Michael also has enjoyed collaborating with some of the new voices in composing today, including Gity Razaz, Jeremy Flowers, Eric Nathan, and Timo Andres.
Michael received his Doctorate of Music at Stony Brook University under Gilbert Kalish, where he served on the Pre-College music theory faculty and managed the undergraduate piano program as Head Piano Teaching Assistant. He also studied at Lawrence University and the Conservatorium von Amsterdam.
Michael frequently receives comments and questions about his hands due to his enlarged fingers. He developed pachydactyly, or thick finger syndrome, when he was young, causing the skin around his fingers and below his first knuckles to significantly thicken. His condition does not actively inhibit his performances to his knowledge, though it does make ring shopping more difficult.
Michael currently lives in the Bay Area his wife, pianist Elizabeth Dorman.