Michelle Schusterman – Biography

Michelle began playing the steel drum in high school at the age of sixteen and fell in love with the instrument. In February of 2000 at the age of 19, she traveled to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, the island nation that invented pan. After five weeks of daily rehearsals, she performed with the World Champion Desperadoes Steel Band for the 2000 Annual Panorama Competition, where the Desperadoes took first place for the tenth time in the contest’s history.

 In addition to being a member of the University of North Texas Steel Band for over four years, Michelle was also a founding member of the Dallas/Fort Worth professional steel band One Credit Hour, which played numerous festivals, weddings, and parties, and recorded two CDs in its six year existence. After graduating from UNT with a bachelor’s degree in music education, Michelle was a band director and percussion instructor at Lakeview Centennial High School and Lyles Middle School in Garland, TX. She was also adjunct faculty at Baylor University, where she co-directed the Baylor Steel Band.

 In the summer of 2007, Michelle and her husband moved to Salvador, Brazil, where they spent a year teaching ESL and having fun on the beach, as well as performing and studying music. They moved on to Seoul, South Korea, where Michelle played the steel pan in three groups that recorded and performed regularly: Pet Rock, a reggae/funk/rock band, Just, an original pop band, and the Nic Travis Quartet, a straight-ahead jazz group.

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