Personal Info
Jeffrey
Award winning composer, pianist and recording artist Jeffrey Michael has performed for millions of people, sold over 1 million CD’s and downloads and has over 20 million music stream plays worldwide with his self-promotion strategy and record label Fireheart Music and has composed original music scores for over 90 independent film, tv and video game projects.
Jeffrey Michael grew up in Sterling Heights and Novi, Michigan. As a 2 year old he used to bang on his Great Grandmothers piano. In 1983 she passed away and her piano was passed along to Jeffreys mother. She actually told him not to touch the piano for fear that he would damage it at such a young age. Naturally, he disobeyed her and began playing the piano by ear when he was 6 years old, going on to compose his own music by 11 years old. Jeffrey does not read music but rather is a self-taught musician who utilizes his excellent ear for his music and composes using a special shorthand that he developed as a child prodigy. Some of his musical influences include George Winston, David Lanz, Suzanne Ciani, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, John Williams, Alexander Desplat and John Williams.
At age 15 Jeffrey broke his right hand and could barely use it to play piano for many months which caused him to develop his left hand much more fully than many pianists. Now he is known for his dexterous two-hand counterpoint melodies. That same year Jeffrey borrowed $1,000 from his father, went to a recording studio and made a recording of his compositions that he began selling in his high school. In two weeks he paid his dad back. The next year he made another recording. By the time he graduated, he had sold 5,000 cassettes of instrumental piano music primarily to high schoolers!
In 1996 after briefly taking business classes at Eastern Michigan University and Schoolcraft College, Jeffrey created Fireheart Music. Since then he has developed his company into an independent record label and music production company where he composes, produces and arranges piano CDs. Under the Fireheart label he has released 16 piano CDs worldwide.
Since Jeffrey was a boy he always had a passion for film music and dreamed of someday being a film composer. In 1997 Jeffrey was interested in studying film scoring and was offered a full composition scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. However, when Berklee discovered Jeffrey did not read music he was told he needed 2 years of College level piano classes or he would fail out of Berklee. A Berklee film scoring instructor advised “Jeffrey you want to compose for movies…you’ve got the talent…so go compose for movies.” Jeffrey did just that by gaining experience composing free music for some Michigan film school films as well as some local indie feature films.
Jeffrey relocated to the Los Angeles area in 2006 and since has composed for many films, tv and video game projects. Credits include Cirque Du Soleil, Google, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Asics, Sci-Fi Channel, HIstory Channel, ABC, ESPN, Bravo and Oxygen as well as at The Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals.
He plays the guitar, enjoys screenwriting, painting, traveling, fishing, golf, hockey and has played soccer throughout Europe. He now resides in South Torrance, California.
United States of America
Torrance
California
90505
Work
* Has sold over 1 million CD’s and downloads
* Has over 20 million music stream plays worldwide
* Was named ” New Age Artist of the Year”
* Was #7 on the BILLBOARD Music charts (New Age) for 4 weeks straight
* Has had 4 CD’s chart in the top 10 in the New Age genre worldwide
* Has had 3 CD’s hit #1 on Music Choice (Soundscapes) digital cable music channel
* Has had 12 piano albums hit #1 on ITUNES
* Won best music score at 3 film festivals
Major Composing Credits include:
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL / GOOGLE (MOVI.KANTI.REVO)
MICROSOFT
JAWS UNLEASHED
MCDONALDS
ASICS
FEATURE FILM COMPOSING CREDITS
2011 In Search of the Black Knight (Satirical Documentary)
2011 The Horror of Barnes Folly (Horror / Comedy)
2011 Cameraman: Solomon Islands (Historical Documentary)
2010 1013 Brian Lane (Paranormal Documentary)
2009 Dreams and Shadows (Drama)
2009 Sam Hell (Horror / Thriller)
2008 Children Lost in Darkness (Drama Documentary)
2007 Dimples (Psychological Thriller)
2005 Untouchable Children (Drama Documentary)
2003 The Plea (Psychological Thriller)
2002 The Living and the Dying (Psychological Thriller)
2002 The Agent (Heist / Suspense)
2002 Storm of Beauty (Dark Comedy)
2000 Biker Zombies (Horror)
FILM TRAILER COMPOSING CREDITS
2010 1013 Briar Lane (Paranormal Documentary)
2009 Dreams and Shadows (Drama)
2008 Paradise Lost (Horror / Thriller)
2008 Blood River (Horror)
2008 Sam Hell (Horror / Thriller)
2008 Saudis in America (Drama)
2008 Anderson’s Cross (Drama)
2008 Love Hollywood Style (Comedy)
2008 Who Made The Potatoe Salad (Comedy)
2008 The Chosen One (Comedy)
SHORT FILM COMPOSING CREDITS
2012 The Gift (Psychological Thriller)
2012 Chlorine (Psychological Thriller)
2011 Murder By Child (Crime / Drama)
2011 Sacrifice Anything (Crime / Drama)
2010 Dormtales Til Dawn (Horror)
2010 4 Pictures (Dark Comedy)
2009 Nick of Time (Drama)
2009 Snapshot (Crime / Drama)
2009 Alone (Psychological Thriller)
2008 Cold Vengeance (Crime / Drama)
2008 Aaron Boone ” The Love Of The Game” (Baseball Doc)
2008 The Late Shift (Horror / Thriller)
2008 Saudis In America (Drama)
2007 A Purple Heart (War Drama)
2007 Breaking All Records (Martial Arts Documentary)
2006 Insomnia (Psychological Thriller)
2005 Lunar 3 (Sci-Fi / Thriller)
2005 Underneath It All (Dark Comedy)
2005 Dead Man’s Hand (Crime / Drama)
2005 Fear of Dying (Psychological Thriller)
2005 Murder Most Fowl (Crime /Comedy)
2004 Jack and Jill (Psychological Thriller)
2004 Voices Within (Psychological Thriller)
2004 Magical Time Traveling Thugtastic Jug (Adventure)
2004 Runaways on St. Mark’s Place (Drama)
2003 Nietzsche (Drama)
2003 A Family Affair (Crime / Drama)
2003 Think Before You Drink (Drama)
2003 Watch The Ball (Drama)
2003 The Quotient of All Anxietes (Comedy Parody)
2003 A Streaming Video (Animation)
2002 Lion Claws (War Action)
2002 The Last Patrol (War Drama)
2002 Comic Books Are For Kids (Comedy / Adventure)
2001 Drive (Psychological Thriller)
2001 Guido (Mafia / Crime / Drama)
2001 American Gangster (Drama)
TELEVISION COMPOSING CREDITS
2008 The History Channel (Licensed Music)
2008 Children Lost In Darkness (Drama)
2008 The Discovery Channel (Licensed Music)
2006 That’s My Kid Up There (NBC Documentary)
2005 MTV Networks (Licensed Music)
2005 SyFy Channel (Licensed Music)
2004 Reality TV Show Libraries (Licensed Music)
2003 Longchamps “The Legacy” (Sports Documentary)
2002 3 Years Before The Trials (Sports Documentary)
2002 Bravo Network (Licensed Music)
2002 Oxygen Network (Licensed Music)
2002 ABC Family Channel (Licensed Music)
2001 Fox Family Channel (Licensed Music)
SOFTWARE AND GAME MUSIC COMPOSING CREDITS
2012 Cirque Du Soleil / Google (Movi.Kanti.Revo)
2011 Microsoft (Licensed Music)
2008 Puzzles of Life (PC Casual Strategy Game)
2006 JAWS Unleashed (Sony PS2 Video Game Demo)
2005 Seda X Squared (Fantasy Role Playing Game)
PROMOTIONAL COMPOSING CREDITS
2010-Present ASICS America (Marketing Promos)
2010 AVIA (Wildflower Marathon Promos)
2009 Doritos (TV Commercial Demos)
2011 McDonalds (Radio Spot Demos)
2000 J. Walter Thompson (Detroit, MI) (Marketing Videos)
1999 Schoolcraft College (Industrial Videos)
Fireheart Music
Music Composer
