Michael Schachter is a composer, writer, and pianist based in Burlington, VT.


His compositions have been performed at venues ranging from Lincoln Center to the Smithsonian to the Minnesota Centennial Showboat. Current projects include commissions and premieres with the Vermont Symphony, the Burlington Choral Society, the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and Grammy-winning choir Conspirare. The 2025-26 season will see additional performances with Ljova and the Kontraband, Salina Symphony, New World Symphony, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, and the Concertgebouw.

Recent projects include a concerto for pianist Aaron Diehl and the Knights in honor of the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in October 2024, as well as commissions with the Knoxville Symphony and Violins of Hope, the MakeMusic Festival and Przekroj Foundation, and the New World Symphony with bass-baritone Davóne Tines.

His concerto for Grammy-nominated violinist Tessa Lark and the Knoxville Symphony, Cycle of Life, premiered to rave reviews in April 2022 and was profiled in a recent PBS feature (Craft in America: “Harmony”).


Also in 2022, the Los Angeles Philharmonic premiered “Concerto No. 2: Anthem” at the Hollywood Bowl, created in collaboration with Davóne Tines, Caroline Shaw, and Tyshawn Sorey.

His music-theater piece, The Black Clown (libretto co-written with and starring Davóne Tines, directed by Zack Winokur) premiered with sold-out runs at the American Repertory Theater and Lincoln Center, where it was a New York Times Critic’s Pick.
It will kick off a national tour in 2026-27 with a production in May 2026 at Opera Philadelphia.

As a scholar, Michael recently completed a three-year term as a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows.