Michael earned a M.M. in Choral Conducting at the University of Delaware under the direction of Dr. Paul D. Head, and a B.S. in Music Education from Slippery Rock University. He has done extensive choral work at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he was the director of the University Choir, and he worked closely with the Rutgers University Glee Club.
Recently, Michael was an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Choirs and Orchestra at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, where he conducted the Chamber Singers, the Goucher Choral Society, and the Goucher Orchestra.
Prior to his work at Goucher, Michael was the Director of Choral Activities at Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway, New Jersey, for 11 years. Under Michael’s direction, the Morris Knolls Chorale–one of six choirs featuring over 275 choral students–received extensive awards and performed in a wide range of venues, including the White House (2018), Carnegie Hall (2018, 2016, and 2014), the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Convention (2016), the New Jersey Music Educators State Convention (2014), the National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Convention (2013), and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center (2012). The choir completed three European tours and performed in concerts at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria; St. Peter's Church in Riga, Latvia; the Czech Museum of Music in Prague, Czech Republic; Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland; St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland; and the Jaani Church in Tallinn, Estonia.
Michael has been the guest conductor of the Frederick County Chorus (2025), New Jersey All-State Mixed Choir (2024), Delaware All-State Mixed Choir (2023), PMEA Region 1 Mixed Choir (2022), New Jersey Region 1 Mixed Chorus (2022 and 2014), PMEA District 1 Honors Tenor/Bass Choir (2019), the New Jersey Region 2 Treble Choir (2018), the New Jersey All-State Treble Choir (2016), and the Sussex County Honor Choir (2011). Additionally, Michael has been an adjudicator for choirs in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. He is so excited to have found his home as a musician with the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus Family.