"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
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, 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, Alice Tully 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 internationally in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the Museum of Theater and Music, as well as the Haus der Kunst and Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria.
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, Regina Opera Company, 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 on stations such as WQXR and WXXI, as well as online and on television.
She has also given pre-concert lectures at prestigious halls and institutions such as the Juilliard School, where in the 2025 season she is scheduled to lecture before Historical Perfomance programs as well as opera productions.
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, Elly Ameling, Hilary Hahn, Isabel Leonard, Larry Brownlee, Kathleen Kelly, Carol Vaness, Frederica von Stade, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Helmut Deutsch, Robert Holl, Tamara Wilson, Russell Thomas, Michael McMahon, Anthony Dean Griffey, Pascal Roge, Atar Arad, Craig Rutenberg, Javier Arrebola, Michelle DeYoung, Denyce Graves, Paul Groves, Stephen Wadsworth, Donald Palumbo, Speranza Scapucci, Frank Lopardo, Philippe Muller, and members of the Juilliard Quartet, Ying Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, and the Jupiter Quartet. In addition, Michele has studied and worked with some of the leading music scholars of today, including Richard Stokes, Michael Musgrave, Daniel Melamed, Kristina Muxfeldt, and Natasha Loges.
Michele is a recipient of the Honors Recital prize at the Juilliard School. She also received the Honorary Mention prize in the IYAPC Competition, was a top-prize winner of the CFIC, 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. In addition to being a teaching assistant for a variety of music history, music appreciation, and vocal accompanying courses at Juilliard, 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, as well as the Ver Sacrum Consort. She regularly works as a freelance staff choral pianist with prestigious institutions such as the Young People's Chorus of NY and Juilliard's Music Advancement and Pre-College Program. She has also coached and accompanied singers for prestigious auditions including for renowned programs and companies such as Chautauqua, Sarasota Opera, Pensacola Opera, Tanglewood Music Center, Kansas City Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Marcella Sembrich Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition, among many others. She is also a Steinway teaching partner and on their roster of recommended piano teachers.