Michael Albert

Hi, my name is Mike and I will share my musical experiences as they happen, but for now, I will share just a little about me.
I am a classically-trained musician who performs on various intruments.
I used to go nuts and play pretty much anything I could get my hands on, but as I got older, I ran out of time and couldn't practice everything so now I stick to just the oboe, violin, and voice. That still may be a little too much to handle all at once, but I'm going with the flow for the time being. Occasionally, I am asked to play viola, recorder, and pennywhistle.

I currently perform with the groups Ecclesia, Initial Ascent, Seraphic Fire, and the Beggar Boys. You'll learn more about these groups as I perform with them throughout the year.
In the meantime, you can know that one group explores free modal jazz, another delves into the irish tradition, another is a early music vocal group, and the other is an amazing baroque orchestra.

How do I fit it all in, you ask? Quite simply, I practice a million hours a day. Actually, it seems that much to me sometimes, but I try to fit in at least 2 hours per instrument a day. Sometimes, with a perfomance coming up, I will devote all my time to one instrument. The most interesting thing to me about the whole process is that the things I learn on one instrument can tranfer to another instrument without having ever practiced the other instrument. I think it's cool!

In Highschool, I felt rather embarrassed about playing all these instruments. I knew there were many other people out there who could do the same, but nonetheless, most people couldn't and were either amazed, freaked-out, or completely annoyed with me. I was definitely a music geek, but not for the crowd as much for the experience. My family couldn't afford lessons for me, so I played as much as I could in school. I joined the orchestra, band, and chorus. Those were some of the best times in my life!

One day a very respected sage said to me, "If you can play it, play it! Even if you eventually put it aside one day, you will have at least learned something from it!"
That sage was very right, indeed!