 Michael comes from a musical family. His mother is a piano teacher and chorister, his father an amateur musician, and his sister, Laura, a graduate of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. He started singing -- on pitch -- when he was a toddler. But it wasn't until age six, when he stumbled on the All-American Boys Chorus performing in a local shopping mall on their way to Canada, that Michael told his parents -- in no uncertain terms -- "I want to do that". He immediately joined the San Francisco Boys Chorus.
It was through the chorus that Michael was asked - at age nine -- to audition for the part of John, Peter Grime's apprentice, in the San Francisco Opera production of "Peter Grimes". It was a very intense acting challenge for him, spending much stage time cowering and being abused by Peter, and then finally falling off a cliff to his death. He loved that part the most. It was in this opera that Michael discovered that he loved to act and that he wanted to be an opera singer when he grew up.
He still wants to be a singer today, although he is open to other genres besides opera. He likes almost all styles of music, and has fun singing in many different styles at home.
His most exciting performance has been the A&E taping of "Pie Jesu" in duet with Charlotte Church before a live TV audience at age 10. Charlotte was very nice to him in rehearsals, and he remembers her fondly. He later performed solos on live TV, but "it wasn't as much fun as singing with Charlotte."
Michael has a special attachment to former boy soprano James Westman, as James gave Michael a copy of his boy soprano album as a gift, and that became the spur that led to Beautiful Soup. At that time, neither he nor his parents had any idea that boys could make records. Michael even did two of the arrangements from Jamie's album.
At age 11, after having recorded on a number of tracks for the CDs of others and finding the recording process fun, Michael announced to his parents that he wanted to make a solo CD. And he kept on re-announcing it for months until they did something about it. The result was "Beautiful Soup, " recorded in the spring of 2002.
Besides music, Michael's hobbies are sports, skating, juggling, and unicycling. And "hanging out with friends, " he emphasizes. He enjoys his life in San Francisco, and has turned down opera opportunities in other States and countries so as not to miss out on the action at home.
Micheal appeared singing Pie Jesu in a duet with soprano Charlotte Church on A&E television special and sang two solo songs and live TV interview on Fox's Mornings on 2. He has also performed solo and backup vocals on a number of CD recordings in the pop, folk, and classical genres, including tracks with Donovan and with Willie Nelson.
1- 'Come Lasses and Lads' (England)
2- 'The Star of the County Down' (Ireland)
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