Kasper Michael
Born in 1957 in Mainz, where he also received his first lessons in cello and recorder. He studied with Georg Donderer in Berlin, and Siegfried Palm and Boris Pergamenschikow in Cologne, followed by chamber music studies with the Amadeus and Alban Berg quartets. He has been a member of the Ensemble Modern since 1980, with a 12-year interlude as cellist in the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (1985–97). Between 1988 and 2000 he taught the cello and modern music at the Musikhochschule in Aachen where he also organised concert cycles of new music. He also appears as a soloist and member of many chamber ensembles, and has been the dedicatee of a number of contemporary works. He is a founder member of the International Ensemble Modern Academy, as well as director of graduate studies in new music at the Hochschule für Musik and Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt Main He is an admirer of vintage British cars and, living at Offenbach, a licensed member of the Offenbacher Kickers.
