Michael Carp is a musician who enjoys performing the nuanced and thoughtful music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
As an active performer of contemporary music, Michael has won recognition through recitals, competitions, and recordings. He has been a featured artist at the McMormick Marimba Festival and KNOB Contemporary Music Festival. Michael was also 1 of 30 competitors selected to compete at the 2016 TROMP International Percussion Competition in Eindhoven, Netherlands. As a member of the violin/marimba ensemble Duo Synaesthetic, he performed in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as 2nd prize winners at the 2015 American Protégé Competition.
Michael has collaborated on numerous recording and commissioning projects, including an upcoming CD release of solo works for percussion, marimba, and vibraphone. Most recently Michael was featured on David Caffey's newest album, All in One: David Caffey Jazz Orchestra, and on Luminous Machine, a CD of compositions by Nathaniel Bartlett. He can also be heard on multiple albums as a member of the McCormick Percussion Group including: Time & Places, a CD of compositions by Baljinder Sekhon; PLOT: Music for Unspecified Instrumentation; Between a Rock and a Hard Place; and Guitar Music from Eastman: Dieter Hennings (release upcoming).
As a classically trained percussionist, Michael has performed as a member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Wichita Grand Opera percussion sections from 2014-2016. Michael has also served as an extra percussionist with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and performed with numerous orchestras across the state of Florida including Sarasota Pops Orchestra.
Additionally, Michael has performed with many touring artists, including Natalie Merchant (from the multi-Platinum band 10,000 Maniacs), the Grammy Award-winning Indigo Girls , and Jackie Evancho (2010 America's Got Talent 2nd Place Winner). These performances have taken place in concert halls and stadiums in Miami, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Wichita, the greater D.C. area, and Uncasville, CT.
Michael has served as the percussion coach and music arranger for the University of Northern Colorado Pride of the Rockies Marching Band, the percussion coach for the Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Director of Wichita State University's Impulse Percussion Group, and taught private lessons and Percussion Pedagogue at Wichita State University. Michael has also coached many marching ensembles, drawing from his combined experience of 5 seasons with world class DCI and WGI marching ensembles (Colts Drum and Bugle Corps & Gateway Indoor).
Michael holds a M.M. degree from Wichita State University and a B.M. degree from the University of South Florida, where he studied with Gerald Scholl and Robert McCormick.