Michelle Doyle Tschirhart

Lecturer, Applied Clarinet
[email protected]

Michelle Doyle Tschirhart, originally from Boston, Massachusetts, has performed with such notable ensembles as the St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Boston Ballet Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Michigan Opera Theatre, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project and many more. She plays principal clarinet with the Oakland Symphony and second and bass clarinet with the Warren Symphony, as well as other area ensembles. Michelle has been a core member of the Memphis Symphony, Iris Chamber Orchestra, The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Kenosha Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, Cape Cod Symphony, Nashua Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera.

Chamber music has played a large part in Michelle’s career. She was the clarinetist with the Vento Chiaro Woodwind Quintet which was Ensemble in Residence at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA for many years. As a member of Vento Chiaro, Michelle was an Artist-Faculty in Residence at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Michelle was also a founding member of the Boston-based new music ensemble Xanthos. She has performed with the Radius Ensemble, The Firebird Ensemble and countless other chamber ensembles.

Michelle is a champion of new music. She has worked closely with the American Composers Forum, and premiered works by Gene Coleman, Keith Carpenter, Robert Patterson, Michael Gandolfi, James Territo, and more. Michelle was a founding member of the Boston-based new music ensemble Xanthos, and has performed regularly with the Firebird Ensemble. She was a core member of the Chicago-based Ensemble No Amnesia. 

Michelle has a thriving teaching studio. In addition to teaching clarinet at Oakland University, she is on the applied faculty at Cranbrook Schools and an artist teacher for the Detroit Symphony Civic Youth Ensembles. Previously, Michelle was the Instructor of Clarinet at The University of Mississippi and at Arkansas State University, Faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy, Faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Guest Artist Lecturer at the Longy School of Music.

Michelle attended the University of Michigan School of Music, graduating with a BM in Clarinet Performance and a BA in Political Science. She holds a Masters in Clarinet Performance from Northwestern University and an Artist Diploma from the St. Louis Conservatory and School for the Arts. Michelle’s principal teachers have included: J. Lawrie Bloom, Russell Dagon, George Silfies, Fred Ormand, John Mohler, William Wrzesien and Paulette Bowes.