Michael was born in Belfast into a musical family where he developed a keen interest in music from a very early age. He studied piano (LTCL Teaching Diploma), classical guitar (Grade 8 distinction) and viola (Grade 8 distinction) at the City of Belfast School of Music. He then studied at Queen’s University Belfast where he achieved a Bachelor of Music with Honours (1989), a Masters in Computer Science (1990), and a Masters in Music Technology (1996). He performed at many public recitals both as a solo pianist and piano accompanist while at Queen’s University Belfast, played for many exams as piano accompanist, and also played piano with the Northern Ireland Arts Jazz Orchestra during this time. He has also lectured in Music Technology at Queen’s University Belfast.
Michael also worked in IT for over 30 years as a Software Engineer until 2021. During this time he always maintained his passion and involvement in music as a teacher as well as performing piano at many functions and playing viola with several orchestras and string ensembles. He now devotes more of his time to teaching piano and classical guitar to students of all ages and standards.