"One of the most wonderful pianists I know...an excellent musician and a charismatic collaborator for the singers she works with. She is always in superb control of her instrument and can draw wonderful colors that enhance the interpretations of every vocalist. I cannot say enough glowing things about her."

-Carol Vaness

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Michele Wong is a NYC-based collaborative pianist with a passion for bringing innovative musical storytelling to a diverse range of audiences.

A versatile performer in both vocal and instrumental chamber repertoire, musicians she has worked with include winners and finalists of competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Seoul International Music Competition, and the Gerda Lissner Competition, members of studio of the Dutch national opera, Opera Philadelphia, LA Opera, and the Opéra national de Paris, as well as members of the Juilliard and Escher string quartets, and Sybarite5. Just as passionate about new music as she is about standard repertoire, Michele has also worked with several leading composers of today on performances of their works, including John Harbison, Ben Moore, and Jake Heggie, among others. In addition to performances in some of the most prestigious venues in the U.S., including Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Kaufman Center, the Bienen School of Music, University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and Bruno Walter Auditorium, she has also performed in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the Museum of Theater and Music.

 

Featured by concert series such as Juilliard's "Who's in the Lobby" Series where she was featured by Hilary Hahn on a performance in collaboration with the dance department, the Omega Ensemble (where she was the very first Next Generation Artist ever featured by them), the Howland Chamber Music Circle, the Empire Film and Media Ensemble, After Arts, the Caumsett Summer Concert Series, the IU Opera and Ballet Theater, the Ver Sacrum Consort, and Long Island Chamber Music, she has also been a participant in prestigious music festivals such as Songfest (where she was a recipient of a Stern Fellowship), SourceSong, Schubert Institut, the Collaborative Piano Institute, and was also invited to the Aspen Music Festival (cancelled due to Covid-19.) Her performances have been broadcasted over the radio as well as online and on television.

 

Michele received the Honorary Mention prize in the IYAPC Competition, and as a child in 2010 was a top-prize winner of the Concert Festival International Competition, later on receiving their Educational Grant as well as a scholarship to perform in Portugal. Michele was a featured soloist with the Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra and the Island Chamber Symphony Orchestra.

 

Michele is also in demand a piano teacher and vocal coach, committed to helping students of all levels to find their own musical voice through personalized instruction and varied repertoire. Currently on the roster at West Amadeus Music School in NYC, Michele was previously a teaching artist/vocal coach for What Is Opera, Anyway? as well as various online repertoire classes for Nordic and German/French art song. She has also served as coach and rehearsal staff for City Lyric Opera in their 2024 season.

 

Currently a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at Juilliard studying with Dr Lydia Brown, Michele received her MM in collaborative piano from Indiana University under the tutelage of Aram Arakelyan, Anne Epperson and Kevin Murphy, and her BM for piano performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Douglas Humpherys. Prior to her college studies, Michele studied privately with pianist Ann Schein. She has also coached with renowned artists such as Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, Warren Jones, Hilary Hahn, Larry Brownlee, Kathleen Kelly, Jonathan Feldman, Carol Vaness, Frederica von Stade, Tamara Wilson, Anthony Dean Griffey, Pascal Roge, Atar Arad, Craig Rutenberg, Javier Arrebola, Rita Sloan, Paul Groves, Stephen Wadsworth, Donald Palumbo, Frank Lopardo, Philippe Muller, and members of the Juilliard Quartet, Ying Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, and the Jupiter Quartet.