Michael Ellis Ingram

Michael Ellis Ingram grew up in Columbia, Missouri, where he discovered a talent for conducting orchestras as a high school student. He went on to study music and German at Gordon College in Boston, Massachusetts. His principal teachers were James Buswell and Carol Ou (conducting), as well as Mia Chung and Alina Polyakov (piano). He continued his studies with James Ross and Michael Votta in the master’s conducting program at the University of Maryland School of Music where he served as Music Director of the UM Repertoire Orchestra and also worked with the UM Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Men’s and Women’s Choirs, National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, and the Bach Cantata Series. He also conducted the Maryland Opera Studio in productions of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, and the world premiere of Frank Proto’s Shadowboxer, for which he delivered a series of pre-concert lectures under the auspices of the composer.

Michael is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany, under the instruction of Ulrich Windfuhr and Barbara Rucha. In the course of his studies, he works with ten different orchestras in Leipzig and the surrounding region, including the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (MDR), the oldest radio orchestra in Germany. He teaches conducting courses for master’s music education students at the Hochschule in Leipzig and at the Hochschule für Musik “Carl Maria von Weber” in Dresden. He also leads the children’s orchestra of the Clara Schumann Music and Arts School at the historic Schumann Haus.

Michael’s passion for music is matched by a deep love for the word, both written and spoken. He has published poetry and prose, taught English grammar and literature, announced for National Public Radio, and delivered speeches on a myriad of topics ranging from music to spirituality.