He is a double bass player born in Washington D.C. who studied at the Curtis Institute of Music. After graduating he performed with the National Symphony in 1961/2, and remained with them for two seasons.
In 1964 he became a long standing member of The Philadelphia Orchestra and rose to the position of Assistant Principal Bass in 1970 and the Associate Principal Bass in 1987. In 1987 he was awarded the C. Hartmann Kuhn Award for distinguished service to The Philadelphia Orchestra. He retired from the orchestra in 2021 after 57 years.
As a chamber musician he performs on bass in the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble and Philadelphia Jazz Quintet and on the viola da gamba with the American Society of Ancient Instruments. He has also been the co-music director of the Amerita Chamber Players.
Recordings he has performed on include Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra.
In the field of musical education he has given private lessons and was a teacher at Temple University’s Boyer School, previously New School of Music, for 35 years.
He is a huge collector of music and has amassed at least 9,000 items in all formats of recordings.
He performs here….
Sources:
- http://www.pomusicians.org/michael-shahan.html
- https://www.instantencore.com/contributor/contributor.aspx?CId=5113931
- https://m.facebook.com/PhilOrch/photos/pcb.10158402291813202/10158402289678202/?type=3&source=49
- https://www.stokowski.org/Philadelphia_Orchestra_Musicians_List.htm
- https://www.aisphila.org/players.html
- http://ormandy.html.xdomain.jp/Bass-Member0.html
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4625585-Michael-Shahan