Born in New Zealand in 1961 Michael learnt piano with his grandmother, horn and composition with his father. Composition is a significant part of his musical life, having written for a variety of ensembles along with songs and percussion works. A considerable number of his compositions include intervals from the harmonic series, extended just intonation. His music is published by Wirripang Pty Ltd (www.australiancomposers.com.au). From 2017 he has been co-curating SydneyMicroFest, an annual event of microtonal music. He has a blog exploring brass instruments, harmonics and just intonation, (bwhisperer.com) and a composition service thenotewhisperer.com.au.
Micahel has held full-time playing positions with a number of Australian orchestras including that of Principal Horn in the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. He is now a regular with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (playing natural horn), Opera Australia Orchestra and freelances mostly in Sydney. Chamber music credits include his ensemble LOCANA and Omega Ensemble.
Teaching is an important part of Michael's work with schools in Sydney including Inaburra School. In 2011 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong after having previously been awarded an MPhil in composition from the University of Queensland and MMus in Musicology from Griffith University.
