All photos by Emily Wornell
A native of the Pacific Northwest, pianist Michael Seregow enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, teacher, and recording artist. Currently a member of the piano faculty at Ball State University, he has also served on the keyboard faculties at Washington State University, University of Puget Sound, and University of Oregon.
Winner of The American Prize in chamber music performance, a national competition in the performing arts, Michael maintains an active performance career, performing a diverse selection of repertoire spanning from the late renaissance through works by composers of today. A musician of uncommon versatility, he has also received formal training in a variety of keyboard instruments other than piano including harpsichord, fortepiano, and organ, in addition to studies in jazz piano, basso continuo, historical performance practice, and composition.
An avid chamber musician, Michael has performed with internationally renowned artists such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal bass clarinetist Lawrie Bloom and Indiana University professor of bassoon William Ludwig, as well as members of Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, and many others. Recent international performances include recitals with saxophonists Nathan Bogert and Bob Eason at the XVIII Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón México in Mexico City; a world premiere performance with flutist Sophia Tegart at the 2nd International Conference on Women’s Work in Music at Bangor University in Wales, UK; and a recital as featured guest artists with saxophonist Nathan Bogert in the national theatre of Honduras for Honduras Sax Festival IV in Tegucigalpa. Michael has performed at various national conferences around the United States including those for the North American Saxophone Alliance (Tempe, AZ), College Music Society (Louisville, KY), and National Flute Association (Salt Lake City, UT). In addition, Michael has performed collaboratively as an invited guest artist at many universities across the United States including University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, The University of Texas at Austin, Stephen F. Austin State University, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Cal State Fullerton, and others.
Michael celebrates the forthcoming release on Centaur Records of his second CD titled Palouse Songbook. A collaborative project with flutist Sophia Tegart, this disc features new and recent compositions by women composers, including two works commissioned specifically for this recording by composers Emily Doolittle and Ingrid Stölzel. In June of 2017 Michael teamed up with the San Francisco Bay Area’s historically informed Sylvestris Quartet and Portland baritone Harry Baechtel to record his debut CD, The Good Song: Fauré in the 1890s. Featuring compositions from an especially important and prolific decade of composer Gabriel Fauré’s life, this disc was recorded in Seattle using a beautiful 1869 Érard piano.
An active member of Music Teachers National Association, Michael is in demand as a lecturer and adjudicator and has presented on topics including teaching tone production at the piano, effective strategies for learning and memorization, the development of healthy technique for advancing pianists, and the pedagogical repertoire of Béla Bartók. His students have been prizewinners in local and national competitions.
Michael earned a D.M.A. in piano performance with supporting studies in piano pedagogy from the University of Oregon. He was twice awarded Outstanding Graduate Performer in Keyboard as well as Outstanding Graduate Performer in Music in addition to receiving graduate teaching fellowships in piano pedagogy, collaborative piano, and opera accompanying. In the summer of 2011 he was a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Music Academy of the West, where he worked with Jonathan Feldman. His principal teachers include Dean Kramer and Mark Westcott, and he has played in master classes for such eminent artists as Emanuel Ax, John Perry, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Jon Kimura Parker, and Angela Hewitt.