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About Michael

I am a native of North Carolina and I live in Chapel Hill, N.C.  As an autoharp player, I am self-taught in both the chromatic and diatonic styles, but I was mentored by many wonderful players.  My playing style is based on clear accurate melody, rhythmic background, complex chromatic and diatonic arrangements, open note accuracy, musicality, and expression.  I have taught private students for over ten years and I enjoy teaching workshops and performing at festivals and house concerts.

My autoharp experience began when my third-grade teacher brought one to class and after one strum I was hooked.  Years later, after I completed my medical training, I bought my first autoharp with my first paycheck, taught myself a few simple tunes in the chromatic style and began playing on the street.

Over the years, I have participated in autoharp competitions and I am the 2018 Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering Champion.  In 2013, I was awarded the Cohen/Grappel Recording Endowment grant and recorded my first CD, Beneath Still Waters.  I have also recorded a CD with my friends, Maggie Dodd and Rick Fitzgerald, Chasing Sunshine, which was released in 2019.  I am a founding member of the Triangle Autoharp Circle based in the Raleigh, N.C. area. Other music activities include singing with Vox Virorum (Men’s Chorus of the Triangle) and playing with friends in local jam sessions like the Bynum Front Porch Pickers.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”

Plato

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