About Michael Van Bodegom-Smith

Michael Van Bodegom-Smith first began his musical career as a classical trumpet player based in Detroit. Michael acted as the principal chair for the Detroit Youth Symphony Wind Ensemble from 2015-2017. He had the pleasure of studying under outstanding musicians such as Dr. Ken Thompson, Dr. Scott Boerman, and Brian Moon. Michael was invited to the Michigan Youth Arts Festival (2016) to serve as the principal trumpeter of the MYAF Wind Ensemble. During this time, Michael had taken an interest in arranging and composition. He would compose and arrange works for various ensembles in the Metro Detroit area. These early works included arrangements for brass quintet, saxophone quintet, and full orchestra. Arrangements of pieces by Hideki Sakamoto and Arata Iiyoshi were performed by local groups and in spring 2016 Michael performed his arrangement of Sergei Nakariakov's Arutunian Trumpet Concerto with the Athens Symphony Orchestra.

In late 2016 Michael Van began studying music composition at Columbia College Chicago under Ilya Levinson, Sebastian Hudyts, Kenn Kumpft, and Andrew M. Edwards. He concurrently studied with Scott Hall and Peter Saxe with a focus in jazz performance and composition. Michael has launched a career in music for media and has written music for over a dozen productions in the realm of film, theatre, animation, and games. He actively composes remotely for films and television in Los Angeles and New York City. Michael's work for media has received international attention from festivals such as the The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival (Best Picture), Chicago Horror Film Festival, Indie Horror Festival (Best Score), Twin Tiers International Film Festival. 

 During his work in the film industry Michael has had the opportunity to study with prominent media composers such as David Wingo, Garry Schyman, and Kubilay Üner. 

 Michael’s music outside of media has been played by groups such as the Chicago City-Wide Orchestra, Concept/21 Ensemble, and the New Music Ensemble (of Columbia College Chicago). These works feature original compositions that range from orchestra pieces to chamber works. Michael's score for the animation "Kenya's Symphony" has been performed and recorded by a 60 piece orchestra comprised of international world class musicians.  

Michael is currently based in Chicago Illinois where he works primarily as a composer for media. In addition to writing, Michael also works as an education with the Academic Center for Tutoring where he teaches music theory, piano, and aural skills. He also is an active participant in the Chicago music scene as a trumpeter and pianist. Michael has shared the stage with musicians such as Bernard Purdie, Jon Irabagon, Donny McCaslin, and Cassandra O'Neal.

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