(15 Aug 10) Details of Michael's upcoming concerts this autumn can be found on the Schedule page - highlights include Mozart Concerto K.488 with the Hallé Orchestra, a solo recital in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, duo recitals with clarinettist Michael Collins (including a BBC Radio 3 broadcast) and a tour of Ireland with the Cappa Ensemble
(30 Jun 10) Thanks to everyone who supported Michael at his Wigmore Hall début on Monday evening! Follow these links to read reviews of the recital: Musicalcriticism.com and The Irish World
(28 May 10) Visit the Watch&Listen page for some new audio and video clips
(22 Mar 10) On June 25th Michael will perform with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for the first time, playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue: click here for details [read review]
(9 Mar 10) Tickets for Michael's Wigmore Hall début recital are now on sale through the Hall's weblsite: click here for details
(19 Feb 10) For some recent interviews with Michael, click the following links:
Culture NI podcast interview | Hallé 'Ten2Watch' Q&A | Pianists from the Inside Q&A
(8 Jan 10) Michael's recital in Aberdeen last year with clarinettist Michael Collins will be broadcast on Thursday 21st January at 1pm on BBC Radio 3 and BBC iPlayer as part of Radio 3's Beethoven and Brahms series [read review]
(17 Dec 09) Details of Michael's concert diary 2010 are now available on the Schedule page - highlights include a solo tour of Northern Ireland and a début recital in WIgmore Hall, concerto appearances including a lunchtime concert with Carlos Kalmar / UO and chamber music performances in Ireland, UK and Italy
(30 Nov 09) Some recent concert reviews include the following praise of Michael's performance of Mozart Concerto no.9 with the Hallé in the Manchester Evening News:
"…McHale can combine dramatic flair with faultless stylistic skill (as in the first movement cadenza), probe the depths of the writing (as in the slow movement), and mix fluency, bravura and suddenly surreal nostalgia - as in the finale. He's a player with a lot to give…"
click here for full review, and for a review of the recent King's Place recital click here
(11 Nov 09) Michael has been chosen as one of the Hallé's "Ten2Watch" artists for this season - click here to read more
(10 Nov 09) Michael will be interviewed and will perform live in the studio on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme at approximately 5:15pm on Thursday 12th November - it will be available for a week afterwards on the Radio 3 website and BBC iPlayer
(30 Oct 09) Michael's performance of Franck's Symphonic Variations with Pascal Rophé / UO will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3's 'Afternoon Performance' at approx 2.30-3pm on Tuesday 3rd November - it will be available for a week afterwards on the Radio 3 website and BBC iPlayer
(21 Sep 09) Michael will play a 20 minute set in the new London Limelight classical night at the 100 Club, Oxford St on 13th October. click here for information
(3 Sep 09) Michael’s autumn season includes a series of concerts with the renowned clarinettist Michael Collins, concerto performances with the Hallé, RTE Concert Orchestra, London Mozart Players and various other solo and chamber engagements – check the schedule page for full details
(25 Aug 09) Further CD reviews include BBC Music Magazine: "...In a Landscape is given a sensitive reading by Michael McHale..." and International Record Review: "...In both the opening ‘Lento’ and closing ‘Lento-largo’, McHale (on piano) and flautist Vourneen Ryan successfully capitalize on the sparseness of the writing to create an atmosphere of awe and mystery... " A Place Between is now available on iTunes
(16 Jun 09) A Place Between was recently reviewed in the Sunday Business Post: "...Pärt's Hymn to a Great City... knocked me back through the purity of sound achieved... This young award-winning Belfast pianist has an intuitive feel for music, and can cross musical boundaries effortlessly..." Click here for full review
(1 May 09) The inaugural LCMS album, A Place Between, which features Michael playing solo and chamber works by composers including Cage, Pärt and Gorecki, is now available – click here for more information, to listen to audio clips and to order a copy of the disc
(29 Apr 09) Michael’s recordings of four new works by Irish composers David Byers, Siobhan Cleary, Jennifer Walshe and Bill Whelan will be broadcast by RTE lyric fm on Friday 15th May at approx 9.45pm
(15 Apr 09) The première performance of David Walter Hall’s Cross Road Blues with Michael’s newly commissioned score for choir and six-piece ensemble will take place at London’s Hackney Empire on 16th July as part of the Spice Festival. Click here for more details and to watch a trailer for the show
(10 Mar 09) Michael's performance at the gala re-opening of the Ulster Hall on Friday night was a great success - the refurbished venue has lost none of its charm. The concert was reviewed in the Guardian and Irish Times
(1 Mar 09) **** Terence Judd/Hallé Award 2009 ****
Michael was delighted to be chosen as the winner of the 2009 Terence Judd/Hallé Award at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. Previous winners of this prestigious competition include Nikolai Lugansky and Stephen Hough.
(17 Feb 09) Michael will be giving four performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue this season – for more details see the schedule page
(30 Jan 09) Click here to read Ensemble Avalon’s recent concert review in the Sunday Business Post. Their debut CD of Piano Trios was chosen as ‘selection of the month’ in The Strad. For a pdf of the feature, click here
(18 Dec 08) On February 28th, Michael will give a lunchtime recital in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester as part of the Piano 2009 festival. The programme will include solo works by Liszt and Rachmaninov along with Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds with members of the Hallé Orchestra
(2 Dec 08) Michael will perform Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody with Kenneth Montgomery and the Ulster Orchestra at the re-opening concert of the Ulster Hall, Belfast on Friday 6th March 2009. The concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Monday 9th March. Click here for more information
(5 Oct 08) Click here to read Michael’s interview with Peter Geoghegan on the Culture NI website. Michael was also the subject of a feature in Fortnight magazine (September 2008 issue) click here to download pdf
(15 Nov 08) At BBC Radio 3’s ‘Pianothon’ in Belfast last month, Michael performed a number of short works, and also gave a short masterclass to the very promising young Irish pianist, Sean Rooney. Click here to hear Michael’s performance
(16 Aug 08) Having just completed a most enjoyable two weeks with the Ulster Youth Orchestra and conductor Takuo Yuasa, Michael was delighted to receive glowing reviews in the Irish and German press for his performances of Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody. Visit the Press page for further details.
(8 Aug 08) Ensemble Avalon’s début CD featuring piano trios by Bax, Bernstein and Beethoven will be available to buy from September 19th. For more details and to pre-order a copy of the disc, click here
(23 April 08) Michael has some exciting concerts to look forward to at this year's Clandeboye Festival (17-23 August – see www.camerata-ireland.com for more details). Highlights include Schubert's Fantasie for four hands with Barry Douglas, Vaughan Williams' Piano Quintet with Richard Watkins (horn) and Michael Collins (clarinet), Saint-Saëns' Carnival des Animaux with Camerata Ireland and David Quigley (piano) as well as the première of 'Midnight Shadows' for solo piano, written for Michael by Belfast composer Philip Hammond
(16 Feb 08) In concerts of Arvo Pärt’s music for the Louth Contemporary Music Society this month, Michael impressed both the composer and the audiences with interpretations of some of Pärt’s best-loved and most moving compositions for solo piano and violin-piano duo (with Ioana Petcu-Colan, violin). Visit www.louthcms.org for further details
(4 Feb 08) Michael’s recent début recital in the National Concert Hall, Dublin was a great success, with a tremendous audience turn-out and enthusiastic reception which was matched by the Irish Times review – thanks for everyone’s support!
(29 Jan 08) Some new concert dates confirmed for this summer:
June 12: Solo recital in Leighton House, London
July 1: Début concerto performance with the RTE NSO in the National Concert Hall, Dublin performing Franck’s Symphonic Variations
July 13, 15: Chichester and King’s Lynn Festivals with Sir James Galway
July 23: Lunchtime piano trio recital, Rosemary St Church, Belfast
July 23: Fauré piano trio with Ensemble Avalon in National Concert Hall, Dublin
August: Concert tour with Takuo Yuasa and the Ulster Youth Orchestra performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini including dates in Derry (7), Belfast (8), Berlin (12) and Kassel (14)
Check Michael's schedule for further updates…