Executive/Artistic Director—Michael Reynolds is co-founder and Executive/Artistic Director of Classics for Kids Foundation, which has given hundreds of matching grants for excellent student instruments valued to string programs around America since its inception in 1998. He is founding and current cellist of the world-renowned Muir String Quartet, which began its career in 1979. As a member of the Muir Quartet and as soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Reynolds has performed well over 2,000 concerts throughout North America, Europe and the Far East, and he has performed with such diverse artists as Benny Goodman, Leon Fleisher, Menachem Pressler, Gil Shaham, Richard Stoltzman, and Phyllis Curtin. Accolades he has won with the Muir Quartet include first prize at the Evian Competition, the 1981 Naumburg Award, two Grand Prix du Disques, the Gramophone Award, a Grammy nomination and a Grammy on the EcoClassics label he founded, and an internationally acclaimed PBS broadcast, “In Performance at The White House” for President and Mrs. Reagan. A native of Montana, he received his professional training at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of David Soyer and Martita Casals, continuing with Karen Tuttle and George Neikrug and studies at Yale University. Mr. Reynolds has appeared with orchestras and in recital throughout the U.S, and his recording of the complete Bach Suites for Solo Cello on the EcoClassics label has received much critical acclaim. Recent and upcoming recordings include the Muir Quartet performing Berg Op. 3, Kreisler Quartet and Schulhoff 5 Pieces on the KidsClassics label, the Beethoven Clarinet Trio (after the Septet) and Zemlinsky Trio with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and pianist Judith Stillman on KidsClassics, and the Weber Clarinet Quintet and works from the Klezmer Tradition with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein. Profits from these recordings support Classics for Kids Foundation’s grant programs.
Mr. Reynolds has taught at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts since 1983. His students continue to develop successful careers in music, including members of the Boston Symphony and other orchestras, teachers at universities and other institutions internationally, four Boston Symphony Competition and numerous other competition winners. He is also Artistic Director of ArtsLIVE! (artsliveva.org) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Montana Chamber Music Society (montanachambermusicsociety.org), the first statewide chamber music society in America.
Mr. Reynolds has served on the faculties of New England Conservatory, Rutgers University, the University of Utah, and UC Santa Cruz. He received an honorary doctorate from Rhode Island College in 1995, and is a recent recipient of the Blue and Gold Award from Montana State University. In his spare time he is an avid flyfisherman and outdoorsman.