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Michael grew up in a small Swiss town close to the river Rhein. His childhood was shaped by the hills and forests around him, and by his mother’s vinyl selection with many contemporary classical works. After High School, Michael entered the teacher’s college St. Michaels, a catholic boarding-school in central Switzerland. Becoming a school teacher was clear path, following the footsteps of other family members. At St. Michael’s, he also discovered his love for singing, and it expressed itself through choral music and through being lead singer in a Punk-Rock band. Luckily, this was before the age of smartphones, and no punk footage has survived….
At the age of 21, he started as a classroom teacher in a small village in the eastern part of the country. The elementary school was specialized in children with behavioral challenges, all having been taken out of the regular school system and placed in an accommodating environment. Michael taught Grades 3 and 4 and led the school`s choir.
Eventually Michael moved to Basel and began his studies at the Music Academy, focusing on conducting, singing and teaching. During his time in Basel, he also taught music at a High School and led several community adult and children’s choirs. As a tenor, for 10 years Michael travelled across Europe from Spain to Finland to Israel and anywhere in between, performing with many professional ensembles and learning about musical styles, languages and cultures. Before coming to Canada in 2004, Michael completed a diploma for professional choral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. From this point on, Michael`s work is described on the Pro Coro website.
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