Michael Close is a composer, cellist, and teacher living in Worcester, VT.   He graduated from Bennington College in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in music composition and a master of arts in education.  He has been a composer-mentor with Music-COMP since 2004, a program which encourages and supports students in composing and arranging music. He teaches cello and chamber music classes at the Monteverdi Music School in Montpelier. He is also the music teacher at Moretown Elementary School and Doty Memorial School. Michael plays cello with a wide variety of orchestral and chamber groups around Vermont. He has been the section leader of and a soloist with the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. He is a prolific composer and some of his most recent works have been performed by the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, The Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony, The Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, Chamber Music at the Scarab Club of Detroit, the Eleva Chamber Players, and the Vermont Choral Union.