Musician

Michael is a multi-instrumentalist serving the York County, Pennsylvania region. He is currently a member of a variety of local bands including: 

• The Emigsville Band: Since 2011 - A York County-based community concert band providing musical entertainment to the region since 1878. 

  • Assistant Director 2016-2019, and since 2022

  • Public Relations Chair since 2022

• Unforgettable Big Band: Since 2021 - A York County-based community big/swing band delighting audiences in the Mid-Atlantic region since 2000. 

  • Assistant Musical Director since 2025

Michael is also a former member of several ensembles:

• Pennsylvania State University Marching Blue Band (2017 - 2020) - Collegiate Big Ten marching band with over 300 auditioned musicians. 

  • Section Leader (2019-2020) 

• Baltimore's Marching Ravens (2023 - 2024) - Historical National Football League (NFL) marching band with over 150 auditioned musicians. 

The Emigsville Band

Music has always been my medium — not just for performance, but for building something larger than myself. Nowhere is that more evident than in my involvement with the Emigsville Band, a York County community concert band that has been providing free musical entertainment to the region since 1878.

My dad and brother had been members since 2002, so the band was always part of my life growing up. When I was 12, my mom joined alongside me — her way of making sure I felt comfortable walking through the door for the first time. It was that kind of place. Welcoming enough that a timid middle schooler could show up and immediately belong. I played through high school, returned during college breaks, and when I moved back to York after Penn State, there was never any question — Monday night rehearsals and evenings out at gigs were just part of life again.

What I came back to, though, was an institution in quiet decline. Post-COVID, performances had dwindled, membership was shrinking, and one of York County's most historically significant musical organizations was at risk of simply fading away. The band isn't just a musical group — it's a 501(c)3 nonprofit that owns its own brick-and-mortar band hall, a rarity that speaks to the depth of its community roots. That history mattered to me. I wasn't willing to watch it disappear.

So I did what I tend to do: I got to work.

As the band's Assistant Director, I already had a platform — but I saw a gap that no one was filling. I pitched the board on creating a formal Public Relations Chair, a role dedicated to promoting the band publicly and growing both our audience and our membership. They approved it, and I became its inaugural holder. Together, those two roles became the foundation for a full revitalization effort. I grew our social media following from roughly 150 to over 1,000 organically, recruited student and family musicians, solicited new performance opportunities, and made sure York County knew this band existed and why it deserved to thrive. I conceived and executed large-scale events, including a commemorative concert at the State Museum of Pennsylvania honoring a historic 1974 performance, and the York County Community Band Festival — bringing together all four of the county's community bands for a landmark joint performance that drew regional news coverage and has since become an annual tradition. I also leveraged the band's nonprofit status to open new fundraising channels, resources that now directly fund free performances for retirement communities across the region.

The results have been meaningful: membership and performances have grown substantially year over year, and the Emigsville Band is now the most active community concert band in York County. But the number I'm most proud of isn't a statistic — it's the fact that the band hall has nearly outgrown itself, full of musicians of every age and skill level who showed up because someone made them feel welcome.

That's always been the point. The Emigsville Band embodies something I believe in deeply: that music belongs to everyone, that history is worth protecting, and that community institutions don't have to fade — they just need someone willing to fight for them. I play multiple instruments with the band, but my most meaningful contribution has never been musical. It's been making sure the band is still here, still growing, for generations to come. 

Unforgettable Big Band

Some musical experiences are about joy and community. Others push you to be a better musician. The Unforgettable Big Band is the latter — a York County-based big band and swing ensemble serving the Mid-Atlantic region since 2000, and exactly what its name suggests: a 17-piece powerhouse of saxophones, trombones, trumpets, rhythm, and vocalists that leaves audiences genuinely stunned. When the band is firing on all cylinders, the sound is something you don't forget.

I joined in 2021, initially filling a baritone saxophone seat as a temporary favor while the band searched for a permanent player. Within a few gigs, I was offered a full-time chair. I eventually transitioned to tenor saxophone, an instrument I own and one that suited me better, and I've been a fixture in the reed section ever since.

By early 2025, the band needed someone to step into an expanded leadership role, and I raised my hand. As Assistant Musical Director, I run rehearsals when our director is unavailable and contribute to the overall direction of the group — but my most tangible contributions have come off the bandstand. Similar to my work with the Emigsville Band, I revamped the band's social media presence and website, and have secured multi-thousand dollar performance contracts across the Mid-Atlantic. We've performed at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia, the Spanish Ballroom at the historic Glen Echo Park in Maryland, Winterthur Museum in Delaware, and venues across DC and beyond — repositioning the band as a premier big band and dance orchestra across the Mid-Atlantic region. 

I've also worked to establish the Unforgettable Big Band as York's go-to big band locally, forging new relationships with venues, breweries, and event organizers and making sure that one of the region's finest ensembles is celebrated in its own hometown. We're releasing music on Spotify. We're playing to new audiences. And we're proving that big band music isn't a relic — it's very much alive.

Part of how we do that is by being more than a traditional big band. Yes, we have the classic instrumentation — five saxes, four trombones, four trumpets, a full rhythm section, and exceptional vocalists. But we've deliberately broadened our repertoire to include pop, rock, and country alongside the standards, because that's what draws a crowd and keeps the genre relevant. The big band novelty hooks people in, and the familiar music keeps them there.

That balance — honoring tradition while refusing to be confined by it — is something I believe in deeply, both as a musician and as someone who's spent years fighting to keep historic institutions thriving. The Unforgettable Big Band deserves to be heard. My job is making sure it is.