Michael Roberts

Commercial Theater Production, Songwriting, Songwriting for the theater, Lyric writing for poets and playwrights, the art of accompanying singers. The skies of Music Directing.

1998-2005 Served on faculty of The Weist-Barron School of Acting, New York, NY 2016-2019 Served on visiting faculty of Spalding University (KY): MFA program in creative writing. 2018. Delivered a lecture and workshop for Spalding University at consortium in Edinburgh, Scotland Guest lecturer on Lyric Writing for Poets and Playwrights, New York University (multiple sessions) Guest lecturer on musical theater performance, University of Pittsburgh/Bradford. Guest lecturer in musical theater at American University.

Foremost, my interest is in bringing together the technical and creative side of music and theater with the practical aspects as it applies to the real-world of professional entertainment world. At the same time, I have developed a well-tested and effective method to unlock the potential of songwriting for those who are new to the discipline (i.e., students of acting, poetry, playwrighting). Finally, I've lectured many times on "first steps on the way to a professional career in music and theater" for students in the performing arts and related humanities. My teaching style is adaptable to the situation. I often prefer to lecture from the piano, where I can instantly illustrate and illuminate key points of the lecture. I also prefer--when possible--to work interactively with the students. This has most often ben done in collaborative sessions with the students. My most popular lecture/workshop is generative. Students generate brief lyrics that I analyze and critique. Then I set those lyrics to music in real time, explaining how the lyric affects my compositional choices.