Anything but ordinary.

Costa Mesa, California

Piano lessons begin. Music is the passion, but it is live performance that captures his imagination. By high school, the trumpet had become his primary instrument—but the piano quietly waited for its moment.

The first time the room came to him

As a teenager, he sat down at a piano and started improvising. People gathered around the instrument, singing, laughing, sharing the moment. It was the first time he experienced the extraordinary joy of bringing people together through music.

Without realizing it, Michael had discovered what would become the defining experience of his career: watching strangers become a room full of friends.

Everybody was having such a great time that I wanted to recreate that feeling for the rest of my life.

The Neighborhood Playhouse

Accepted into the prestigious conservatory, he studied under the renowned Sanford Meisner, with training in voice, ballet, and jazz—a theatrical foundation that still shapes every performance. There he learned that every performance begins with listening.

His first professional role

His first professional acting role was playing the Evil Baron in Jack and the Beanstalk at a professional children's theater in New Jersey. The experience taught him how to command a room, tell a story, and connect with an audience—skills that would later become central to his life as a singing pianist.

A week of late nights in California

Returning home for Christmas, he spent a week making music late into the night with close friends. By the end of the week, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life: create evenings where audiences didn't just listen—they became part of the music.

The career begins

Michael began his professional career as a singing pianist at Daphne's Restaurant in New York City. More than four decades later, he is still doing exactly what he set out to do—bringing people together through music.

Eight unforgettable years in Times Square

Night after night, Michael transformed one of New York City's legendary piano bars into a room full of singing, laughing, and shared memories. Broadway performers, theater lovers, tourists, and regulars all found their way to the piano. Some came back week after week—not just for the music, but for the feeling of being part of it.