Michael Linert enjoys a varied musical career as a cellist, singer, educator, and composer. Known for his engaging, impassioned performances as well as his inspiring, organized, and rigorous teaching approach, he seeks to create a world fully enriched by music, providing accessible and varied opportunities for all who seek music in their lives.
As a cellist, Michael has led as section principal with the Stratus Chamber Orchestra, Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Bloomington, Commonwealth Opera, QV Ensemble, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and as a section member with the American Baroque Orchestra, the Valparaiso Summer Rhapsody Symphony Orchestra, and the West Hartford Community Theater. Michael regularly performs as a cellist (Baroque and modern) and singer in solo and chamber music recitals, having performed in over fifty cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Ecuador, and he has premiered works by Chinese, Australian, Armenian, and American composers at Indiana University and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Michael enjoys frequently performing for various community-enrichment events such as weddings, retirements, and memorial services, as well as performances at senior living centers with the Colorado-based, Life/Art Dance Ensemble.
As a vocalist, Michael’s voice has been described as “ethereal, almost spooky,” “poignant,” and “gorgeously clarion” (The Hartford Courant), and he has also been described "as good as any male alto I ever expect to hear" (Jay Harvey Upstage - Indianapolis). He performed Bach's St. John Passion as alto soloist (Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphonic Choir), Bach’s B Minor Mass as alto soloist (CONCORA and Hartford Symphony), Handel’s Alcina as Ruggiero and Xerxes as Arsamenes (Indiana University Opera Theater). In addition, he performed with Ensemble Lipzodes at the XIV International Sacred Music Festival in Quito, Ecuador and was a member of the Carnegie Hall Chamber Chorus for the Tallis Scholars' "Spem in alium" Project for the Weill Music Institute. He performed as a soloist and section member on the album NOTUS: Of Radiance & Refraction, released by Innova Recordings.
As an educator, Michael currently serves as the Performing Arts Department chair and the director of orchestras and mariachi at Westminster High School in Colorado where he has been awarded Teacher of the Year Award from Westminster High School, the Fred Award for Customer Service by Westminster Public Schools, and the Exemplary High School Teacher Award from the American String Teachers Association. He also serves as the Mariachi Workshop Director for the Aspen Music Festival and School, which provides musical education and cultural expansion for over 150 participants of all ages and levels and culminates in a final public performance at the Michael Klein Music Tent in Aspen, Colorado.
Michael previously taught cello for the Indiana University String Academy, served as assistant director of the Fairview and Highland Park Violin Projects in Bloomington, Indiana, and taught private cello, piano, violin, and voice lessons in Connecticut and Indiana. Michael has also been a judge for the TASHCO Young Artists Festival, Hoosier String Auditions, and the National Federation of Music Clubs. He currently coaches passionate cellists in his Cello Academy and regularly works with students from all over the United States of all instruments, ages, and experience levels, as well. Musicians who have worked with Michael have gone on to win positions with professional, regional, and youth orchestras, and have been accepted into national music schools, while others enjoy professional lives in many other disciplines, including rocket scientists, doctors, lawyers, and university professors. He has guest lectured at the Colorado Music Educators Association, Florida State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and Indiana University and has done consulting work with music educators wishing to enhance their orchestra, mariachi, performing arts departments.
As a composer, Michael has a creative output of over one-hundred original works, arrangements, and editions, which have been performed on three continents. Congressman Ed Perlmutter noted to the House of Representatives that Michael’s original musical score for the documentary "Medic!," was “moving [and] original” and an “invaluable addition to the documentary.” The documentary is now part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress American Folklore Center. Additionally, Michael’s original music video, "Lost," was presented at "Life in Motion: A Colorado Dance Film Festival" in collaboration with the Life/Art Dance Company.
Michael received a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance degree summa cum laude from The Hartt School and a Master of Science in Music Education degree from Indiana University. Throughout his studies, he regularly worked with professors from many other schools, including the Juilliard School, Eastman School, French National Conservatory, and the Royal College of Music. He currently resides in Broomfield, Colorado with his cat/social media manager, Mechanic.
Current 6/1/2022