Michael Stein teaches Piano, Songwriting, Film Scoring, Arranging, Composition, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Ukulele, Seagull Merlin, Harmonica, Pipe Organ and Voice in the Conejo Valley. He enjoys working with students to set realistic short and long-term goals and helps to attain them together.
Working as a collaborator who tastefully mixes his love of filmmaking with an eclectic musical background, Michael has become a sought after film composer. His recent projects, Gladys Brown, Tit for Tat, and Your Favorite Place are all currently making rounds at film festivals throughout the United States. Michael recently composed Recurrent Illusions, a concert piece for the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble.
Michael’s musical education began at age five when he started taking piano lessons. His passion for music was always abundant as a child with roots in rock ‘n’ roll and classical music. During high school, he was one of the youngest individuals to become a musical director for an off-Broadway show. Excelling in this role deepened Michael’s appreciation for theater. He also began studying jazz and was accepted to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music for his Bachelor’s degree in jazz piano performance. It was there, in New York City, where Michael gained the attention and support of music legend, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. After becoming Purdie’s assistant, Michael composed, arranged, conducted, and performed on several studio albums. From 2006-2012, Michael was Bernard Purdie’s Co-Producer for projects taking place around the world.
In 2012, under the guidance of Grammy Award-Winning Composer, Richard Danielpour, Michael began studying composition more seriously and was accepted to the Manhattan School of Music for his Masters degree in classical composition. In April of 2014, the Manhattan School of Music Composers’ Orchestra gave the world premiere of his first orchestral piece, Darkness Over the City. Having continued his studies toward becoming a first-rate composer, in 2017 Michael was accepted to UCLA for a Ph.D. in music composition with a specialization in visual media.
