Michael Jorgensen

Described as an exceptional musician by Maestro Lorin Maazel, BUTI Violin Workshop Director, Dr. Michael Jorgensen, is the Assistant Professor of Orchestral Strings at Lehigh University, where he serves as the concertmaster of the Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also taught violin at Middle Tennessee State University, Covenant College, and the Wyoming Center for the Arts in their Touchstone program for at-risk youth. He has given masterclasses across the country, and he teaches violin and plays concertmaster for the Mostly Modern Festival held at Skidmore College.

His most recent project is a combination of a violin and piano recital, a “Ted Talk,” and a one-man-play about the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges called The Saint-Georges Project. This multidisciplinary work combines music from Black composers across generations, personal storytelling, historical context, and multimedia to paint a picture of life for artists of color throughout history and today

As a soloist, Dr. Jorgensen has performed with organizations including the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, the Colour of Music Festival, Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley, the Unsung Collective in Harlem, Sun City Chamber Players, the Florida State University Festival of New Music, the Gateways Music Festival, and the London School of Contemporary Dance. He is a featured artist on Paul Osterfield’s Sound and Fury disc released by Navona Records. 

A member of the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis, Dr. Jorgensen also served as the concertmaster for the 75th-anniversary national tour of Porgy and Bess, the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Belle Meade Baroque, Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival Orchestra, and the Cityside Symphony Orchestra in London. He has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and many others. 

A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Dr. Jorgensen has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, the London School of Contemporary Dance, the Taft Museum of Art Chamber Music Series, Gettysburg College, and has been a returning guest artist to Middle Tennessee State University. As a string quartet performer, he has been the first violin of the Eppes String Quartet and founded the Frequency String Quartet, a new music group with an education and community-building mission that was described as “a gifted and stimulating foursome” by Cincinnati classical music reviewer Mary Ellyn Hutton. 

 Dr. Jorgensen holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, a master’s from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and a doctorate from Florida State University.