Joseph Michaels (b. 1977 in Oberlin, Ohio, USA) is a composer, performer, and curator. Based in Stuttgart, Germany since 2008, his works feature elements from Western classical, experimental, folk, and popular music, combining unconventional tuning systems and moments of rhythmic complexity with tonal inflections, repetition, and a clear pulse. His writes primarily for acoustic instruments, often accompanied by playback or video. He has explored absolute music as well as music together with other artistic disciplines, borrowed materials, and various forms of communication for political and social commentary, humor, or to experiment with the interplay of opposites.
Michaels' works have been performed in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia by such performers as Fx Kollektiv, Céline Papion, Noise-Bridge, Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, Hocket Piano Duo, ensemble cross.art, Geoffrey Deibel, Johnathan Nichol, Nikola Lutz, Landman/Stadler Duo, Invading Pleasures, Stephen Mattingly, Thürmchen Ensemble, Neue Vocalsolisten, Rohan de Saram, and Ensemble SurPlus. As a guest composer, he has been invited to conservatories in Europe and the United States. His music has been broadcast on SRF 2 (Swiss Radio and Television 2), Deutschland Rundfunk (German Broadcasting), SWR2 (Southwest Broadcasting), WDR3 (West German Broadcasting), and Freies Radio Stuttgart, and performed at such notable venues as the MATA Festival, Acht Brücken, Curitiba Biennial, Gaudeamus, and ISCM Miami.
Michaels is also active in bringing works by other artists to the stage. He works on the board of the Stuttgarter Kollektiv für aktuelle Musik (Stuttgart Collective for Current Music), a promoter of experimental music in Southern Germany which he cofounded in January 2015.
