Bio
 Mike began to study piano at a young age, first from his
mother and then another local piano teacher in the small town
of Meservey, Iowa, where he grew up. As a young teen, Mike
began to study with Ruth Brose at North Iowa Area Community
College and then Chiu Ling Lin at Drake University in Des
Moines, IA with whom he studied his last few years of high
school as well as received a Bachelor of Music degree from
Drake while continuing to study with Ms Lin.
Mike graduated Magna Cum Laude from Drake in the spring of
1987 and entered a Master of Music program at The New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. At NEC, Mike's primary
studies were with Veronica Jochum. Through the conservatory,
Mike had many opportunities to learn from some of the finest
musicians in the world, including 20th century piano with
Stephen Drury, aleatoric composer, John Cage, and microtonal
studies with composer, Joseph Maneiri.
After graduation in the spring of 1989, Mike moved to the
Twin Cities where he was active as a teacher and performer.
Through the past decade and one-half, Mike has been an active
teacher, adjudicator, clinician, and workshop leader in
private lessons, public school, and colleges.
In the fall of 1989, Mike began to serve as a
pianist/keyboardist at Crystal Evangelical Free Church in
Plymouth, MN. Gradually, this position as keyboardist
developed and soon Mike was the Associate Minister of Music
serving with Daniel Wagner directing and coordinating the
instrumental ensembles and contemporary praise band.
 In 1999, Michael became the Worship Pastor at
Brooklyn Park
Evangelical Free Church (Brooklyn Park, MN) and in 2001, he
accepted the call as Worship Pastor at Faith Covenant Church
in Burnsville, MN where he continues to serve.
Mike has released five solo projects. The first was a
"home-grown" cassette titled This Little Lite of
Mine and was released in the spring of 1992. Even after
two printings, this cassette is now out of print. Many of the
songs from this recording are available in the listening room
of this website.
Christmas 1998 was the release of Mike's second project
titled Home. Several of the titles of these first two
projects were published in Mike's book of piano solos with
Lillenas Publishing, titled Impressions of
Worship.
Mike has written many other arrangements including brass
ensemble music for the Greater Twin Cities Billy Graham
Crusade in 1996, a piano duet in the Lifeway publication Pedal
point, and a wide variety of arrangements for solos,
ensembles, and choir.
Christmas 2000 was the release of Mike's Christmas project
titled Tapestry of Christmas.
In May 2006, Mike released a CD titled Spectrums.
This new project goes back to some of Mike's jazz roots
and contains a wide variety of styles, arrangements, and
compositions.
Having joined the Chancellors Quartet as pianist in
February of '07, Mike has been performing many concerts with
them and released his newest CD A Touch
of Gospel in September of 2007. This CD features many
Gospel favorites and styles ranging from Southern Gospel to
Black Gospel and even some Pentecostal and hymn favorites.
Mike lives with his wife, Diane, and three children in the
Twin Cities southwest metro suburb, Savage, MN. The oldest
child, Geoffrey, was featured on the piano as a 5 year old on
the Tapestry of Christmas CD. All three
children play piano. Geoffrey also plays trombone and drumset.
Amanda, the middle child, is also plays clarinet and Lucas is
learning drumset and guitar. |
| Music isn't just learning notes and playing them, You
learn notes to play to the music of your soul. -- Katie
Greenwood |
|
