Biography

My exposure to classical music as a child was quite limited. My mother owned only a few records—including Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf—which I listened to over and over again. I learned ukulele and clarinet in elementary school, but around age ten I became especially drawn to the piano. I would often find the nearest keyboard and spend hours experimenting, trying to discover what sounded beautiful and what didn’t.

One day, while I was improvising on a piano during a lunch event, one of my mother’s friends commented, “I didn’t know Michael was taking piano lessons.” My mother replied, “He’s not—I can’t afford them. He just figured that out on his own.” Sitting at the same table that day was a piano teacher, Clarisa Morrison, who kindly offered to give me free lessons. I was twelve when I began studying with her, practicing each morning on the school’s piano since I didn’t have one at home. That same year, I heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed live for the first time—it was a transformative experience that inspired me to write my first composition shortly after.

At fifteen, my grandfather supported my musical studies by enrolling me at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where I studied theory and composition with Stephen Brown and piano with Susan de Burgh. Over the next three years, I composed a variety of works, including two string quartets, a suite for orchestra, and numerous solo and chamber pieces. In 1998, I entered the University of Victoria on full scholarship, studying piano with Arthur Rowe and composition with John Celona, and graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Music with Distinction.

After completing my studies, I was offered an opportunity to work in the field of information technology for a year. What began as a short-term plan quickly developed into a long-term career. Over the next two decades, my focus on music composition naturally lessened. However, in December 2022, I made the decision to return to my musical roots and reestablish composition as a central part of my life. Since then, I have dedicated myself to writing, arranging, performing, and recording new works, as well as revising and publishing earlier compositions for a broader audience.