Anthony Michelli
Biography
ANTHONY MICHELLI (drums, percussion) was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Currently based in Toronto, he has been involved in music since a very young age. He played the accordion, and then alto and tenor saxophones but was driven by the urge to play drums from the very beginning. He built his own drum set and played by ear, ultimately deciding to pursue an education in the music field. Michelli is a graduate of Mohawk College, has studied at the Banff Center and the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and has a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto specializing in Jazz Performance. He is currently on the faculty at York University in Toronto and Mohawk College of the Applied Arts in Hamilton. He was been a faculty assistant at the Inter-Provincial Jazz Camp led by Phil Nimmons for many years.
Michelli has performed with major jazz artists all over the world – Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, Maria Schneider, Ray Anderson, Renee Lee, Oliver Jones, Tim Ries, Ingrid Jensen, Hilario Duran, Pat LaBarbera, Ed Bickert, Lorne Lofsky, Reg Schwager, Moe Koffman, Doug Riley, Don Thompson, Joe Sealy, Carol Welsman, Hugh Fraser, NOJO, Tommy Ambrose, Kirk MacDonald -- to name just some of them.
He has toured extensively: in Mexico with the Dave Young Trio and the Steve Koven Trio, in Japan with the Quinsin Nachoff Quartet and the Steve Koven Trio, and in the United Kingdom with Martin Speake and Nikki Iles. Ben Castle, the Steve Koven Trio, and Anthony Kerr. He has appeared at jazz festivals throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe for the past several years. He leads several of his own groups, and is a member of the Brian Dickinson Trio, the Nancy Walker Quartet, the Dave Young Trio, the William Carn Quintet, the Steve Koven Trio, the Nikki Iles Trio and Quintet, and many others.
Awards:
1995 – Jazz Report Award Winner as “Post-Secondary School Musician of the Year”
2003 – Grand Prix de Jazz Award (Nancy Walker Quartet) - General Motors Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
2004 – Mohawk College Alumni of Distinction Award
2004 – Nominee for the Ontario Premier’s Award
