Michael Van Wirt

Biography

Michael Van Wirt joined the percussion section of the Colorado Symphony is 2015. He has performed with the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, and was a New World Symphony Fellow. He was a member of Seraphic Fire’s Firebird Chamber Orchestra, serving as timpanist from 2012 to 2015. He is also an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and the Alan Abel Summer Percussion Seminar.

Michael holds degrees from the University of Denver and the University of Miami. As an educator, he has taught at the Lamont School of Music Summer Academy, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Northern Colorado. He also participates in the Colorado Symphony’s educational and outreach programs, including the Master Mentor, Mini Musica, and Canta y Balla Conmigo programs. Van Wirt is currently head of the percussion department at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, where he teaches percussion, timpani, and is director the Lamont Percussion Ensemble.

Michael and his wife Elizabeth perform regularly as a percussion duo, including performances at the University of Denver, Regis University, and the Colorado Symphony’s Drums of the World concert. He is a Zildjian performing artist and clinician. In his free time, he enjoys skiing and hiking, completing the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2012.

SPECIALTIES:

Percussion
Timpani

LANGUAGES:

English