Michael was born and raised in Missouri and Iowa. He attended and graduated from Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri.  He is married to Laurel and they have three grown children: Emily, Ben and Joel.  Michael and Laurel settled in Arvada, CO in 2002.

Michael has been a teacher since 1986.  He began teaching music in 1998 and is a multi-instrumentalist.  He teaches and performs on piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and hammered dulcimer. He joined the Maestro team in August 2024