During his time at UND Michael was the winner of the Greater Grand Forks Concerto Competition and the Bismarck-Mandan Concerto Competition and had the privilege of soloing with both orchestras. Michael was also a guest soloist with the UND Chamber Orchestra and the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra. At this time Michael was the principal of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, section member of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, and played frequently with the area’s leading chamber musicians. While at UTRGV Michael was the winner of the university concerto competition, performed with the UTRGV Double Bass Quartet, was a section member of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and subbed with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.

Michael has been teaching double bass for 5 years. In 2018 he began teaching double bass at Poppler’s Music, which included students of all ages and he also provided extra lessons to undergraduate bassists based on the teacher’s recommendation. As Michael pursued his master’s at UTRGV he was awarded the Presidential Research Fellowship, which resulted in a co-presentation at the 2021 College Music Society convention. The title of the presentation was titled “Optimization of Practice Efficiency through the Systematic use of Technology – a study”. He also taught undergraduate music theory and aural skills courses as a teaching assistant while at UTRGV. In 2021 Michael returned to UND to give a masterclass and workshop to undergraduate level bassists. During his time in Texas Michael taught at the UTRGV Bass Academy which provides weekly private lessons and group lessons for middle school and high school bassists in the area. Two students Michael worked with from this program received “1” ratings on their solos, and the bass ensemble also received a “1” rating.