Michelle’s career began in Minneapolis, MN when she returned after undergraduate school in Evanston, IL, after receiving a BA in music from Northwestern University. During this early phase in her career, she was recognized and frequently funded as a composer, collaborating with Twin Cities choreographers, filmmakers and theater artists, in addition to composing for her own new music ensembles. In 1989, Michelle moved to New York to pursue an MA in Performance Studies at New York University. She lived and worked in NYC for 13 years, touring Europe and the U.S. frequently as a composer and cellist, bridging many musical genres and forms from pop to art music, and collaborating in dance, film and theater.