Michael has composed, directed, and performed music for concerts and theatrical productions around the world. He has worked with symphony orchestras, African village drummers, opera companies, dancers and singers of the Sioux nation, and with theater and dance companies in New York.

Having completed musical studies in Philadelphia (Temple University), he became principal percussionist for the Philadelphia Composers' Forum, a chamber ensemble that specialized in the performance of 'avant-garde' art music . While with the Forum, he recorded and performed many new musical works, including the world premier of George Crumb's Lux Aeterna.

Michael was principal tympanist for the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra for two seasons (1976 – 1978) and was principal percussionist for the Erick Hawkins Dance Theater. As musical director and composer in residence for the Solaris Dance Theater, he worked with Lakota Sioux dancers and singers and also with dancers and singers of the Congolese National Dance Theater (1980 –1981). At that time he developed musical ties with Jean Erdman’s Theater of the Open Eye, and also composed music for Julie Taymor’s The Way of Snow, which was presented at the Ark Theater in New York and also at International Puppetry Conference & Festival, Washington D.C. (1980).

His musical direction for Elizabeth Swados’ The Beautiful Lady, helped garner the show the 1985 Helen Hayes Award for Best Play with Music. It was one of many collaborations Michael has had with the playwright/composer over a 22 year period, including his significant role in preparing vocal arrangements for Missionaries, her tour de force about the murder in El Salvador of four American Maryknoll missionary women in the 1980's (Missionaries had its New York premier at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 1997 Next Wave Festival).

In 1981, Michael began a long-standing association with New York’s La Mama Theater, participating as composer, musical director & performing musician in LaMama/Great Jones Repertory Company's productions of Danton’s Death, Mythos Oedipus, Jerusalem, The Monk And The Hangman’s Daughter, Fragments of a Greek Trilogy, Seven Against Thebes, Dionysos Filius Dei, Pabo & Ruisa, Queen Setsu, Carmilla, Seven (simultaneous revival of six of the prior productions plus the creation of a seventh, Antigone, all performed 'in repertory' over a four week period), Perseus (Perseus received a nomination for best musical score at the 1st annual New York Innovative Theater Awards ceremony in 2005), Herakles, Aesclepius and most recently, Il Corvo, performed at the Venetian Festival Biennale. In 1998, he was named Composer in Residence at La Mama and has been a frequent international traveler with the Great Jones Company, composing, directing and performing music at theater festivals in Italy, Greece, Croatia, Austria, Serbia, Albania, Taiwan and Japan, as well as directing the music for Great Jones Repertory Company’s New York seasons at La Mama.

Since 1985, Michael has directed the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Kids on Stage program on Staten Island. Over that period of time, hundreds of youngsters have received instruction from him in the techniques of musical theater performance as well as in general vocal skills and harmonizing. He has arranged or composed all the music for Kids on Stage shows, which have included opera, operetta, musical comedy (including the all-original operetta Alice in Wonderland which you can read more about HERE, and musical revues. For his work with this program, he was awarded the Arts and Humanities Achievement Award for the year 2000, presented by the Council Of The Arts & Humanities of Staten Island.

Currently, Michael is a member of the faculty of The College of Staten Island (CUNY), where he lectures in World Music.