John Michel

John Michel, in his thirtieth year as cello professor at Central Washington University, enjoys his career as a soloist, collaborative musician and teacher.

As part of his regular solo recital programs, this year he is performing all of the Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for Cello and Piano with Dr. Eduard Zilberkant to celebrate Beethoven’s 500th.  He has performed a dozen concertos with orchestra, recently with the Yakima Symphony, Rainier Symphony, Seattle Festival Orchestra and the Everett Philharmonic. With his wife Carrie Rehkopf, he has performed Brahms Double with a dozen orchestras, the latter recently at the Kennedy Center.  He will again perform the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Mid-Columbia Symphony this winter.   

In paired concerts, Mr. Michel performed from memory all six Bach Cello Suites, and regularly appears in the Seattle Bach Suite Marathon.  As a featured artist at the First Kobe International Cello Festival in Japan, he presented a solo recital and performed in the massive orchestra with 750 cellists.  In 2015 he returned with several students for the 1000 Cellists Concert.  At the World Cello Congress III, he premiered Maria Newman’s Solo Sonata “Othmar”.  He has recorded the Dvorak and Shostakovich concertos, Bach Suites G & C as well as numerous live performances.

Mr. Michel is a founding member of Kairos (formerly Kairos Quartet for 24 years) which holds an endowed professorship as the resident ensemble at CWU and Icicle Creek Center for the Arts.  Recently, the Kairos performed with pianists Dr. Stephen Beus, and last spring with Dr. Moli Chiang at the National Recital Hall of Taiwan.

On occasion, Mr. Michel also enjoys substituting with the Seattle Symphony. During summers, he has performed and taught at the InterHarmony Music Festival in Italy, Music&More SummerFest in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Banff International Orchestra Festivals, Kairos Chamber Music Lyceum, Marrowstone Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp, Icicle Creek and the Evergreen Festival. 

Mr. Michel established the Internet Cello Society, a cyber-community of 20,000 cellists which is now archived at cellobello.org.  He serves on the New Directions Cello Association board and hosts the Central Cello Celebration. In 1996, the American String Teacher Association, Washington chapter, named him Outstanding College String Teacher.