Live from Boston, MA

Israeli-Mexican-American cellist Michal Shein is a performer, community organizer and master educator focused on curating cross-cultural performance projects and intensive educational initiatives. In 2021, she founded the Cellísimo Festival, an intensive high level cello festival for Spanish speaking cellists which includes masterclasses with world-class faculty, special lectures and wellness sessions.

Michal is recognized for her pedagogical style that nurtures her students with effective pedagogical methods for solid and positive musical advancement. Her students have been winners in competitions, have received admission to top festivals such as BUTI Tanglewood, Brevard, YOLA Festival, Greenwood, National Symphony Summer Institute, and have played in masterclasses for cellists in top conservatories in the U.S.

Michal has been in high demand in many music programs such as New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Conservatory Lab Charter School El Sistema, Brookline Music School, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and others. She also maintains a private studio for young cellists as well as adult students. Currently, she teaches at the Boston String Academy, an award-winning El Sistema inspired string program, which has been widely recognized for its mission of inclusion and diversity, high student achievement, and innovative methods of pedagogy. Michal also serves on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and University of Rhode Island.

Apart from her expansive career as a cello teacher, Michal has designed and presented dozens of interactive music concerts for children in Boston, especially in economically disadvantaged areas without access to music programs. Internationally, Michal collaborated with the Harp Helu foundation in Oaxaca, offering concerts, educational presentations and founding a string festival.

Aside from her diverse educational work, Michal maintains a career as a soloist, orchestral cellist and chamber musician. In the 2021-2022 season, Michal had the pleasure of returning to the stage as a soloist after a long hiatus due to the pandemic: some season highlights include soloist with the Atlantic Symphony, new piano recital programming and collaborations with Celebrity Series of Boston.

Michal appears with many orchestras and ensembles in Boston including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and others. As a baroque cellist, she has collaborated with ensembles such as Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Grande Harmonie, Longy Baroque Summer Institute, etc. From 2008 – 2013, she was Principal Cellist with the Discovery Ensemble under conductor Courtney Lewis. And in 2009, she was chosen by internet votes to be a part of the YouTube Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas.

Michal received her B.A. in Music from U.C. Berkeley, where she was a soloist with the orchestra and received several awards from the music department. Graduated with honors, Michal received the Hertz Traveling Fellowship to continue her studies in Paris with Mark Drobinsky and Gary Hoffman. During her time in Europe, she was accepted to the Accademia Chigiana di Siena master classes in Italy, where she worked with Antonio Meneses. She has played in masterclasses for Anner Bylsma, Anssi Kartunen, Bonnie Hampton, Jean Michel Fontenaeu, among others. She received her M.A. at New England Conservatory, studying with Natasha Brofsky.

Michal lives in an intentional cohousing community in Jamaica Plain, with her husband Jonas and her young children Noam and Hadas