Michael Sluman

Michael started the oboe at the age of 16, after a year of teaching him self he was accepted at the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied with Jenifer Galloway and Valerie Taylor and the Cor Anglais with Rachel Pankhurst for three years. Michael transferred to Leeds College of Music in 2013 to commence his studies with Janey Miller Within his first year at Leeds College of Music, Michael has been awarded the Alan Hawkshure Foundation Scholarship, The Friends of Leeds College of Music Scholarship and the Leeds College of Music Excellence Scholarship, Michael also won first place in the woodwind category of the Arts@Trinity Competition allowing him to partake in a cathedral tour in the North of England. Michael was also the winner of Leeds College of Music’s ‘Track of the Year’ awarded to him in January 2015, for his recording of J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Along with performing regularly with orchestras around the city of Leeds and enjoying a freelance career playing in many of the nations most stunning theatres, Michael has also appeared with professional orchestras such as The National Festival Orchestra of Great Britain as well as holding the second oboe chair with The Jersey Chamber Orchestra, playing at prestigious events such as The Liberation Music Festival of Jersey with a scratch orchestra of players from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Michael is also on an access scheme with Northern Ballet Sinfonia. Along with this professional work Michael also holds the principal oboe chair with The Secret Opera, a London based touring opera company. Michael enjoys developing and creating new music with the gifted musicians and composers Leeds College of Music has to offer and exploring with unusual combinations of instrumentation. Heavily influenced by Film music, the Avant-Guard, Minimalism and Post-Modernism. 
 Michael has also taken part in talking at conferences for BAPAM and also holds the position of woodwind tutor at Harrogate High School, with students being accepted to music colleges in the UK. Whilst in his second year at Leeds College of Music he was approached by senior staff members to represent the classical pathway for the new online prospectus, taking park in interviews, photos shoots and recording sessions both audio and visual. http://prospectus.lcm.ac.uk/courses.php?classical Michael has received master classes from some of Europe’s top Oboists such as David Theodore, Gordon Hunt , Jonathan Small, Paul Goodey and Melinda Maxwell. Michael wishes to continue working with more contemporary ensembles and starting to devise new works, with influences of jazz, electronics and world music with cross collaborations with other art forms.