John Michel enjoys his career as soloist, chamber musician and teacher. This fall he gave multiple performances of the Six Bach Cello Suites for memory, a significant accomplishment for any professional cellist. In 2003 he collaborated with conductor Paul-Elliott Cobbs and the Tacoma Youth and Everett Symphonies in performances of Elgar’s Cello Concerto. In 2001, he was one of seven cellists featured at the First Kobe International Cello Festival,Japan. There he gave a solo recital and masterclass, and performed with 750 other cellists from around the world in grand cello choir concert. At the World Cello Congress III, he premiered the new Solo Cello Sonata “Othmar” by composer Maria Newman. In addition to regular solo recitals, he has performed the Dvorak, Shostakovich, Haydn D, Elgar, Tchaikovsky “Rococo”, Brahms Double and Beethoven Triple Concertos with various orchestras including the Shenandoah Bach Festival Orchestra, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Everett Symphony, the Wenatchee Symphony, and the Yakima Symphony. He has recorded onto CD the Dvorak Cello Concerto and Bach Suites G & C, and the Newman Solo Sonata, which also can be heard at JohnMichel.com .
Mr. Michel is a member of the Kairos String Quartet, which holds an endowed professorship as the resident ensemble of Central Washington University. For the past eleven years the Kairos Quartet has been regularly performing and teaching throughout the Northwest. Their last east coast tour included concerts in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and a live appearance on Philadelphia’s WFLN radio. The Kairos Quartet has recorded the "Birthday of the Infanta" CD featuring works of Kairos violinist Maria Newman on the Raptoria Caam label. He is also the cellist of the CWU "Rainier" Piano Trio that has toured throughout the Northwest.
He is the founder and director of the Internet Cello Society (cello.org), a cyber-community of cellists, that shares the knowledge and joy of cello playing with enthusiasts from around the globe. Currently the 12000 ICS members represent 84 different countries.
Mr. Michel has given masterclasses for the Banff International Orchestra Festivals; Olympia, Icicle Creek and Tacoma Youth Symphony organizations; the Seattle Cello Society and the Interlochen Arts Camp. He is continuing to develop the "String Pedagogy Reference" website (stringteaching.com), which includes videos of fundamental exercises and activities for string instruction. The American String Teacher Association, Washington chapter, named him Outstanding College String Teacher in 1996.
His formal training includes Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Michigan and the New England Conservatory. Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio, Jeffrey Solow, Stefan Popov, Ned Johnson, John Lenz and Susan Ladley were his main teachers. John Michel is currently in his fourteenth year as cello professor at Central Washington University. He is married to Kairos violinist Carrie Rehkopf, and has three sons, ages 10,6 and 5. |
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