Stephen Michaels

From Birmingham, Alabama, Stephen studied at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame learning under Danny Harper and Jose Carr. The former taught him Barry Harris’s methods of jazz improvisation and the latter welcomed him to his weekly jam sessions in Birmingham.

Stephen has shared the stage with many great musicians including Jazzmeia Horn, Sylvia Cuenca, Jimmy Bowland, and Joel Frahm. He has played with various orchestras and ensembles across the country including the Rome Symphony Orchestra, the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Tuscaloosa Theater, and the Harry James Orchestra.

Stephen currently is studying at Michigan State University on the path to earn a Master of Music in Jazz Studies and a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance. At Michigan State, he is a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Jazz Program, and he studies with Professor Walter Blanding and Professor Joseph Lulloff. For his undergraduate degree, he attended the University of Alabama studying saxophone performance with Dr. Jonathan Noffsinger.

His recent accomplishments include being awarded the Honor Band Scholarship by the University of Alabama in 2019, a full tuition scholarship for studying music at the University of Alabama. In March of 2020, he won 1st place in the instrumental division and 1st place overall for the Guild of the Birmingham Music Club’s Collegiate Competition. In November of 2022, he was selected as a winner of the University of Alabama Concerto-Aria Competition. In January of 2024, he was selected as a semi-finalist for the North American Saxophone Alliance Collegiate Jazz Competition. More recently he has advanced in military auditions as a Semi-finalist for the Army Field Band and the Pershing’s Own band, and he was a Super-Finalist for the President’s Own Marine Band.