Michael holds a Graduate Performance Diploma in Viola Performance from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. His primary viola teachers include Stephen Wyrczynski, Li-Kuo Chang and Kirsten Docter. After moving overseas in 2013, he set up a private teaching studio in Dakar, Senegal. From 2015 to 2018, he led ensembles and taught violin and music theory at the Ladybird International Arts Academy in Ladybrand, South Africa. He started strings classes at the Lesotho College of Education in Maseru and performed with the Free State Symphony Orchestra in Bloemfontein. After returning to Baltimore, he joined OrchKids as a strings teacher. He has also taught at Encore-Coda in Sweden, Maine.

While music and teaching have always been a part of Michael’s life from a young age, he has previously worked as an engineer and patent examiner. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Michael also enjoys tennis, astronomy, ornithology, and hiking.