Michael was born in December of 1950. Not too long after that event, he was found crawling to the piano. Along the way, he spilled his milk right in the path before him. Undaunted, he persevered through the puddle, climbed up to the keyboard, played a few tunes, and shortly thereafter learned to walk.

Such were the beginnings of this musical whiz kid. Granted, some distant family members claim that he couldnt have been walking very long, because Michael was only three years old when he found that tickling the ivories was more fun than tickling his teddy bear. In fact, the young prodigy was still spilling his milk when he was playing gospel tunes at the age of five, and classical sonatas at the age of ten.

And it didnt stop there (the music that is). By fourteen, Michael had his own band. By sixteen, he had won the Texas-Oklahoma Young Artist Competition. At seventeen, he gave the first of several performances at Carnegie Recital Hall (where he did manage not to spill anything on his tuxedo). After that, he earned his Master of Music degree from the University of Houston under the tutelage of pianists Abbey Simon and Albert Hirsch, during which time he continued performing with his own bands and working with headliners such as Pia Zadora, Vicki Carr, Tony Martin and Cyd Charisse.

This musical path eventually led to the Smothers Brothers. Tom and Dick discovered Michael on one of their tours through Texas in 1981. They asked him to play their show for a few nights and recognized his remarkable talents. Those few nights multiplied into twenty years, where he could be seen conducting the orchestra while simultaneously accompanying Tom and Dick on the piano. His television appearances with Tom and Dick as "The Piano Player" include Saturday Night Live, The Dolly Parton Show, Showtime, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Boston Pops, Nashville Now, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, to name a few. His live appearances span just about every major theatre in every city in the country, including the hot spots in Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City. He has been privileged to conduct many of the major orchestras for the Smothers Brothers symphony shows. Among them are the Minnesota Orchestra, the Portland Symphony, the Houston Symphony Pops and the Dallas Symphony.

1988 heralded a rebirth for Tom and Dick on CBS, and Michael was in the thick of productions as musical coordinator/rehearsal and orchestra pianist for twenty New Smothers Brothers Comedy Hours. Michael wrote much of the background music for the shows as well as one of the feature songs, "Just Say Yo". His eclectic abilities made him a natural for a variety show. For example, on one show, Michael was featured playing Chopins Minute Waltz on grand piano while Tom danced with his yo-yo on the lid; on another show he played honky-tonk piano in "Western Show" saloon scene.

2002 performance highlights included an appearance at New Yorks CARNEGIE RECITAL HALL, a performance with THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS and the BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA and musical direction for the Conejo Players production of CHILDREN OF EDEN. However, the most exciting engagement thus far this year was his February debut of his own solo show, "WHAT MAKES THE PIANO GRAND!", which he designed to both educate and entertain audiences of all ages about his first love, the music of the piano. Thusfar, his most memorable performance of 2003 was, by far, conducting and playing with the orchestra for The Smothers Brothers at the Hollywood Bowl in July. Upcoming dates with The Smothers Brothers include the Seattle and Nashville Symphonies. In addition to that, Michael is arranging and recording a new CD for singer/songwriter Lenny Welch, who is best known for his million-selling hit, "Since I Fell forYou," and his popular rendition of "You Don't Know Me."