Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Michael earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Saxophone at the University of Toronto. He was awarded the J.B.C. Watkins Award for Postgraduate Studies, along with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Michael graduated from the Manhattan School of Music where he earned his Master of Music degree in jazz composition under the tutelage of Michael Abene. His compositions have been played by Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell and Arturo O’Farrill at Birdland and by John Benitez at the Blue Note in New York City. Michael conducted the Grammy winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space in Manhattan, where they premiered his original commissioned composition “Mombogro”. He returned to lead the ALJO’s performance of two commissioned arrangements featuring guitarist/composer Michele Ramo. Michael appears regularly with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada as an orchestral saxophonist, and has been a featured soloist with John Pizzarelli, Doc Severinsen, Barbara Cooke, Lou Rawls, Ian Tyson, Glen Campbell & Carol Welsman.
