About Michael Steiner...

Who is he? Where is he from? What are his passions?

Michael was born on Jan. 22, 1981 in Queens, NY and was raised by his father Robert. They lived in a tiny town that lies in the middle of the Jamaica Bay called Broad Channel, and there they lived till 1986. In '86, his father and he moved to another tiny town in Up-state New York, Kerhonkson. It was evident at an early age Michael was very intelligent and talented, especially in music. His father still recalls one day in winter after Michael came home from school and recited a poem called "Red Light, Green Light." All through school Michael showed a promise and a twinkle in his eyes that now have helped him earn great success.

In 1988 his father packed up and moved them to Florida, for the weather of course! This is when Michael started to take an incredible liking to music. He remembers the people who really make that spark grow. "I can still remember the day I first started music classes at Samsula Elementary, it was Mr. Joe Hart who become my first music teacher. He played it all: guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass and piano. He is one of the people to really inspire me to make that music spark grow.” Steiner states. Another person that inspired his, but not in person, were Wynton Marsalis and his "Marsalis on Music" series, that Michael watched at a young age on PBS.

Throughout this school career Michael was always at the top of his classes and at the top of his musical game. While in elementary school was introduced to computers, doing work on them at Samsula Elementary School's library. Then in middle school Michael's time was consumed with his music and his computer. Playing Baritone Sax and playing airplane dog fight games on the computer. During middle school Michael started to change what he in the world of computers. From games he started to write basic programs and figure what made the computer tick. He always helped his teachers when it came to computer problems, from printer communications to problems with Windows based programs.

When Michael hit high school the musical talent started to blossom, playing Baritone Sax in jazz band and teaching himself to play Trombone for marching band and concert band. In marching band Michael was a huge force, being visually dead on and musically perfect. Fortunately for him he was introduced to the sport of Drum & Bugle Corps, with a group call the Magic of Orlando. It changed his life...

After a second year of marching drum corps with the Crossmen of Newark, DE. After that summer Michael decided to transfer to a music magnet school. There his music styling and artistry soared, especially in jazz. Michael was now completely surrounded in talent in his friends, jazz gigs started to pour in. And it all ended with a tour in France his senior year, but during that year Michael knew he wanted music to be a strong force in his life.

After high school he enrolled at a local community college to get his general education classes out of the way and to have a chance to study with David Schmidt of Stetson University. During those two years music and computers took up his life, but the computers took a backseat to the music. Hours and hours of practice...hours and hours of gigs.

And in 2001 after finishing up at Daytona Beach Community College he got an incredible shot at the big time, playing in the London Symphony Orchestra. The LSO comes to Daytona Beach on a biennale basis, and in the summer of 2001, Michael was chosen to play with them. Even though it was a small engagement, he learned very much, and it ignited his love for orchestral playing.

Soon after that stint with the LSO, Michael enrolled at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. While at Florida State he studied Trombone Performance and Voice Performance. His teachers were Ray Duncan, Dr. Joseph Frye and Dr. John Drew for trombone; Gordon Olsen, Larry Gerber, Doug Fisher and Timothy Hoekman for voice.

While at Florida State, Michael participated in a number of ensembles such as: Marching Chiefs, FSU Trombone Choir, Jazz for Dancing, Jazz Combos, Salsa Florida, University Philharmonia, University Symphony Orchestra, Florida State Opera, The Florida Statesmen, Summer Yahtzee, Men's Glee and many others. With all this exposure to music, Michael absorbed is up like a sponge.

After his tenure at Florida State has ended, Michael started his career as a professional musician. He had engagements with various orchestras, opera houses and jazz venues all over the USA. Highlights of these great ensembles are Opera del Sol, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Birdland – NYC, Village Vanguard – NYC, San Diego Opera, Orlando Opera, Orlando Philharmonic, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – NYC, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Covent Garden and the Vienna Opera House.

Then Michael started to think about the future and decided to come back to Central Florida. While back home, he enrolled at University of Central Florida and studies Information Technology. He had rekindled the love for computers…

And now Michael can enjoy the best of both worlds while maintaining a performance schedule during the nights, weekends and summer while having a day job as an IT Manager.

Who knows what he’ll do next…