(as of 2024)
Michael P. Atkinson a professional musician active as a composer/arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, and executive.
Currently, Michael is Associate Conductor of The Knights, appearing on the podium at the Naumburg Bandshell in New York’s Central Park, at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, as well as leading world-premiere collaborations with BalletCollective, and a special side-by-side concert with Knights musicians alongside students from Chamber Music Center of New York.
Since 2022, Michael has conducted Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Third Bird by Nico Muhly, both staged by Dance Heginbotham, featuring Issac Mizrahi and Ensemble Connect on the Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process series.
Michael is also the director of the orchestra at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta, Maine, and the interim conductor of the Kennebec Valley Youth Orchestra.
Michael has also appeared as guest conductor with New York City Ballet, the Orlando Philharmonic, and as conductor/producer of numerous commercial recordings in NYC and Europe.
Also a distinguished composer/arranger/orchestrator, Michael’s diverse credits and collaborations include Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, William Kentridge, Netherlands Philharmonic, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Rufus Wainwright, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center Presents, BBC Proms, among many others.
Upcoming projects include a new arrangement of Keith Jarrett’s Book of Ways for The Knights and Aaron Diehl, and an original piece for The Knights in the 2025-26 season. Michael and Mikael Karlsson are currently writing another jointly composed ballet for Scottish Ballet, choreographer Sophie Laplane, and director James Bonas to be premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2025.
With composer Mikael Karlsson, Michael co-composed a new score for Coppélia, choreographed and directed by Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple for Scottish Ballet, which premiered to wide critical acclaim at the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival, and subsequently premiered in London at Sadler’s Wells in March 2023. In June 2023, Coppélia was honored with two 2023 UK National Dance Awards.
An accomplished French hornist, Michael was active in the New York City music scene for more than 15 years, performing regularly with the New York Philharmonic, on Broadway shows and commercial recordings, and with numerous ensembles around town including Orchestra of St. Lukes, Orpheus, International Contemporary Ensemble, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, American Symphony Orchestra, and Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble.
In addition to being Associate Conductor of The Knights, Michael performs as a hornist and has sat on the Board of Directors for more than 10 years, both as an elected musician representative for two terms, and as Special Liaison.