Michelle Kyle Biography

Education. Michelle Karina Kyle (née Hunchak) began playing piano at age 4 in Yamaha group classes. At age 11, she began cello in a school strings program, and began playing piano professionally for five Ukrainian dance groups in Ottawa. At age 16, she was assistant principal cellist of the Saskatoon Symphony. At age 17, she studied cello at Brandon University with Malcolm Tait. She completed her Honours Bachelor of Music with Distinction at Wilfrid Laurier University, studying cello with Gisela Depkat and piano with Garth Beckett. She earned her Fellowship diploma from Trinity College of Music, London, England, considered equivalent to a doctorate in piano performance without dissertation, then completed a Master of Music in piano performance at McGill University, as a student of Tom Plaunt. She also completed a Juris Doctor degree at Osgoode Hall Law School, web design certificates at Humber College and University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education degree at Brock University.

Awards. Michelle has performed as a soloist with orchestra and has won performance awards on both instruments, including first prize in the Edward Johnson Music Competition as a cellist, first prize in Ontario and second prize nationally in the National Competitive Festival of Music as a chamber music pianist, and Saskatchewan Arts Board grants. In high school, she received English, top academic student and best all-around student awards. In university, she received achievement awards in undergraduate music (Brandon and Wilfrid Laurier), philosophy (Brandon), graduate music (McGill), law (Osgoode Hall), computer science (Ryerson), and German (University of Vienna).

Music. Michelle has been performing for weddings and special events as a soloist and with her ensembles for over 20 years, throughout and beyond Ontario. She created and was Artistic Director of The Birthday Series, a Toronto chamber concert series at Heliconian Hall. She was a co-founder and Artistic Director of the Heliconian Choir and Orchestra, ensembles of the Toronto Heliconian Club, a meeting place for professional women in the arts and letters founded in 1909. She has been principal cellist of the Ottawa Musica Viva Orchestra, Saskatoon Chamber Orchestra, Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and Community Orchestra, Timmins Symphony Orchestra, North York Concert Orchestra, and Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, and played cello with the Saskatoon Symphony, Regina Symphony, Cambridge Symphony, Waterloo Chamber Players, and Stratford Symphony. She was the pianist for the Bel Canto Singers in Scarborough, and for the Joyful Voices community choir in Listowel, which she co-founded. She has been music director for professional musical theatre in Montreal and Port Dalhousie and a church organist/pianist/choir director in Halifax, Atwood, Molesworth, and Kitchener. She taught undergraduate music courses at McGill University. Michelle is currently a cellist and pianist with Ambrosia Chamber Ensembles. During 2024-25, Michelle is studying cello with Katie Schlaikjer in the chamber music diploma at Wilfrid Laurier University, and she will perform duo recitals in multiple cities as a cellist with pianist Christopher Burton. She plays a fine Canadian cello from the workshop of Jean-Benoît Stensland and Therese Girard in Montreal.

Interests. Michelle has also been a lawyer, web developer at a major bank, certified rock climbing instructor, and adult literacy instructor for two Ontario school boards. She climbed in the Shawangunks and Adirondacks, rode a CB450T Hawk motorcycle, raced keelboats, and rode her bicycle throughout the Netherlands and over 7,200 km across Canada. She has lived in Edmonton, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Brandon, Waterloo, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, and Monkton. She now lives in rural Princeton, Ontario, between Woodstock and Brantford, with her husband and many cats and chickens. She teaches teaches Traditional Japanese Reiki with a focus on animals, and enjoys swimming, cycling, Duolingo, and puzzles.

Michelle Kyle - Pianist, Cellist, Ensembles

Michelle Kyle Biography