Michael Metz

Education Director, Percussionist

Michael Metz is a multi-faceted percussionist from Louisville, Kentucky and a recent addition to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2021, Michael joined the Monarch Chamber Players as core percussionist and education director. He recently graduated from Rice’s Shepherd School of Music with a Master’s degree in Music Performance and studied with Matthew Strauss. While at Rice University, he was a Brown Fellow for the Young Children’s Division and taught music classes to children ages 4-10 each Saturday.

For his undergraduate studies, Michael attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where he enjoyed a diverse education in percussion, which he continues in his musical career today. He studied Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion with Michael Spiro, drum set and jazz with Steve Houghton, and solo/chamber/orchestral percussion with Kevin Bobo and John Tafoya. He has attended the Eastern Music Festival, the Chautauqua Institute, and spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival. In 2020, he was an Orchestra of the Americas fellow, although the Panamá tour was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. While attending the Chautauqua Institute, he also had the opportunity to perform with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. 

Michael has held positions in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony, and has performed on percussion, timpani, and drum set with groups such as the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic, Amarillo Symphony, New World Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, and the Houston Symphony.