Nonahood News: Tell us more about you and your art. 

Michael Green: I am a pianist and study at UCF. I have almost completed my degree. I study composition, conducting and piano, and I have performed around UCF. I have also done some international festivals where I play compositions and play piano in collaborative ways and solo ways. I was also actually a bit of a late starter. I have only been playing for probably six or seven years now. I started when I was 15, and it is really common in the classical music world to start when you are like four or five.

NHN: Ideal medium(s)?

MG: Recently, I have liked early 20th century Russian music. In general, I would just say classical music. I play everything ranging from the 17th century to the 20th century. I am really fond of contemporary composition, like my own composition. Probably one of my favorite things to do as a pianist is collaborate and play with ensembles. Playing with trios like violin, cello, piano is an amazing experience. I almost love collaborative classical music more than soloing.

NHN: Recent artistic achievements?

MG: I did the Performance Excellence Competition last semester for my university, and I ended up winning the $1,000 Scholarship Performance Excellence Award. It was basically just between all of the music students, and we played solo repertoire. There were two rounds. The first round was judged by the UCF faculty, and then the second round was judged by the non-UCF faculty. That was a great experience more on the competitive side.

NHN: Most rewarding project? 

MG: This summer, I was invited by my professor to a performance festival in Italy. These performance festivals take place everywhere around the world. The one I went to had very high-level musicians from all over. There was an amazing pianist from the UK and lots of Italian pianists there. And there were also violinists, violists and cellists. We basically just put on concerts for people in the local area of the festival, which is a great experience. I have done a few of them, but it is always nice to be able to bring a very high level of performing arts to an area that usually would not have that.

NHN: Who inspires your art? 

MG: The inspiration I look to is, of course, historical greats. Yuja Wang is a successful concert pianist who plays with all the orchestras and tours. The older greats are Vladimir Horowitz and Gyorgy Cziffra. But my biggest inspiration would be my teacher, Dr. Sun-A Park. She is a very accomplished pianist, and she has only taught at UCF for two years. We have only been together for two years, but she is the longest-term teacher that I have had. She sees my personal development, and she has helped me a lot.

NHN: New projects? 

MG: I have a few projects coming up, one of them would be a concerto competition. And if you are not familiar, a concerto is a piece that is written for a symphonic orchestra and a soloist. A concerto competition is where lots of different instrumentalists compete to be that instrumental soloist. But to be that soloist with the symphony is a huge honor in classical music, and it is really difficult. It is my goal. And then, my degree recital in November is another big one that is coming up. I will be completing my bachelor’s degree. 

NHN: What inspired you to create art in Lake Nona?

MG: I am a teacher in Lake Nona, and I really enjoy having students of many different levels in this area. Lake Nona High School and Lake Nona Middle School, for example, have great arts programs. But to be a musician or in the orchestra, it is kind of historically expected to have a private teacher. To get into college for music, you have to have experience with a private teacher. So, this is nice, because there are not so many piano teachers and there are lots of students who are more than capable and more than interested in piano lessons and music lessons. I work with students such as a freshman, a couple middle schoolers, and a student in his 70s. I have had students all over, but it’s very nice to work with the local population to meet people and cultivate a love for classical music.