About Michelle

Michelle grew up in various suburbs of the San Francisco south bay. She started playing flute when she was 10, briefly taking lessons. She began writing songs by the time she was 11, playing any keyboard she could get her hands on. Michelle took formal piano lessons sporadically but preferred playing by ear, also picking up bass and guitar in her teens. A few garage bands ensued, then Michelle went to San Jose State University, studying both jazz and classical piano performance while in college.

While still in college, Michelle became a member of Lou Harrison's internationally acclaimed Gamelan Si Betty (gamelan is a form of Indonesian orchestral music), recording a couple of CDs and playing national broadcasts with them, as well as numerous concerts. Lou Harrison is known for his role in merging the Gamelan musical form with Western music.

Michelle has also played and recorded in many musical projects as bassist as well as keyboardist. These projects run the stylistic gamut of country, folk, blues, jazz, grunge, and Latin rock. Her diverse credits include co-leading a blues-rock band with former member of jam-band Kingfish and serving as keyboardist for Chepito Areas, original timbalero and arranger of Santana. She has augmented her formal university training by studying jazz piano with Martan Mann and Latin piano with Rebeca Mauleon.

Besides co-leading ZPP, Michelle teaches private piano and bass lessons in Los Gatos, CA, and has co-authored the music-education book/CD set Musicreation.