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Michael Barnett

Staff Accompanist, BA Modern Ballet and Tutor, MMus Piano for Dance

Michael Barnett hails from Glasgow and is a double graduate in Music from Glasgow University. Since then, he has worked predominantly in Dance and is now the staff accompanist on the BA Modern Ballet course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. As a freelancer, he plays regularly for Scottish Ballet and any visiting companies. Michael tutors the Mmus Piano for Dance students and coordinates the musicians playing for BA Modern Ballet, Junior Conservatoire and the Scottish Ballet Associates.

Michael is also a very experienced concert performer, equally at home in the ‘pit’ on the stage. Michael is a regular orchestral keyboard player with the RSNO and others, recent highlights being Jonathan Sheffer’s Four Ten-minute Operas and ‘Ken Bruce Chart Hits’ (RSNO), The Crucible and A Streetcar Named Desire (Orchestra of Scottish Ballet) and Paddington In Concert and Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons (Scottish Festival Orchestra). He has also played for Katherine Jenkins and The Priests! During the 2020 lockdown, his neighbours enjoyed a backcourt concert series.

For many years Michael has worked with the tenor Jamie MacDougall. As MD of their vocal group Caledon, they toured the world, recorded several CDs and DVDs, and designed a tartan. With Jamie, they have played mariachi songs in Guadalajara to Burns songs in Adelaide.