In all of her endeavours, her trailblazing approach invites us to hone our relationships with our bodies and minds in order to experience enchantment and wonder.

From pioneering a new form of yoga, blogging new paradigms for public policy around peace and wellness issues, to her award-winning work as an iconoclastic chef, Michelle continually breaks ground with her work and play.

As a musician, an eclectic mix of sounds blends into Michelle's own unmistakable style. Unique vocals along with her skilled treatment of both improvised and recorded arrangements contribute to her growing reputation as a leading musical talent.

MUSIC BACKGROUND:
Michelle sang from an early age and became a featured operatic soloist with a Ukrainian troupe based in Sudbury that performed extensively throughout Canada and in countries like Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina, where as a teenager she appeared in the role of a gypsy fortuneteller in Zaporozhian Kozaks on the stage of the renowned Colon Theater in Buenos Aires.

She studied piano with a Conservatory teacher for nine years and regularly participated in the local Kiwanis Festival.

In high school at Lockerby Composite she played in both the concert and stage bands on keyboards and alto clarinet. As a teenager she performed for two years with a group of elderly gentlemen who formed a mandolin orchestra in the basement of the Ukrainian Hall, and was the concert pianist for the Dnipro Choir and Ukrainian school. She stopped making music at 17. It would be another 16 years before she took up an instrument or sang again.

In 2002 she began to experiment with sound art, performing as an improvisor with such notables as Mike Hansen and Tomasz Krakowiak, creating a residential music series called the Diogenes Project with prepared guitarist and saz player Arnd Jurgensen.

On discovering yoga in 1997 she also discovered Indian music and soon her interest in abstraction gave way to world music influences. She studied Indian classical music with Gauri Guha, Sudha and Som Naimpally, and Ed Hanley. A release of studio demos from this period, 'Tellum Passionis,' featuring performances by Ed Hanley, Richard Underhill and George Koller debuted at #5 on campus radio charts. Philly Markowitz gave Michelle her first radio play with a track from this CD on CBC's Roots and Wings.

One of the tracks from Tellum, 'Call From the Red Bank,' had been especially recorded for her ailing father who, on hearing it, prophesied that her music was a waste of time and would never amount to anything. Ironically, Markowitz chose that very track for airplay, debuting the recording just a few hours after his death. Michelle reflects, "Rather than viewing that as a vindication of any kind, I understood my father's spirit was speaking to me tenderly, generously and in a way he never could in life. He was telling me through this synchrony to believe in myself and never mind the words and judgements of others, even when those words come from someone you love very much."

Near the end of this period Michelle organized a fundraising event for the David Miller campaign at the now defunct Bambu on Queens Quay with the help of the late Richard O'Brien and a host of local musicians including John Farah, DJ MedicineMan (CIUT), Autorickshaw, and Plan-C. She recorded and performed with Nik Beeson, and did a series of shows with BrilliantFish, before retiring a second time to open a restaurant.

In 2011 she returned to music making with the release of ANIMAL POWERS.

motto:
take your heart / break it like a fruit / red and juicy / see how it shoots

Animal Powers