Michael Noonan is a composer and multi-instrumentalist performing on vibraphone, piano, marimba and trombone. He studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA where he received his undergraduate degree in professional music, graduating magna cum laude in 1984. In 1992 he received his graduate degree in jazz studies and composition from the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. Mike has been the leader of the Unified Jazz Ensemble (UJE) since its inception in 1992, a group that continues to record original music and maintain an active performance schedule as an ensemble. UJE live performances in the D.C. metro area have included appearances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Strathmore Hall, the Smithsonian Jazz Café, and Blues Alley. The group performs their original compositions and classic jazz standards weekly on Tuesday nights at the 49 West Café in Annapolis. Through Mike’s leadership, the UJE has been awarded multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, the Maryland State Arts Council as well as other arts organizations both locally and nationally for their efforts in arts education and performance. One of just eight music ensembles nationwide to receive a 2010 Chamber Music America (CMA) Residency Partnership Grant, the UJE’s performances in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. communities and schools are supported by CMA, funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The UJE’s eighth recording, Cradle Song, was released in July 2010 and features all original compositions. As a freelancing musician in the Baltimore/Annapolis and Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Mike has performed with jazz legends Mundell Lowe, Charles McPherson, and Gary Thomas as well as the many great jazz musicians living in the mid-Atlantic region. In 2008-2009, he served as musical director for Baltimore’s acclaimed Center Stage production of “Caroline, or Change.” As an educator, Mike has served on the faculty as adjunct professor in classes covering jazz studies, orchestration and performance at Gettysburg College, Luther College, the University of North Texas and Northern Virginia Community College. He lives with his wife Heather and their daughter Keira in Severna Park, MD.