MICHAEL McGUSHIN is a composer, conductor and pianist based in Santa Cruz County. He is
the conductor of the UCSC Chamber Singers. He served for roughly three decades as the
coach/accompanist for the music department at UCSC, retiring from this position in 2021. He is
a frequent performer as pianist with various ensembles and soloists in the Monterey and San
Francisco Bay areas. His long association with Cabrillo Stage, serving as one of the music
directors for their productions, has included musical preparation and performance on the shows
Rent , The Addams Family , Urinetown , The Last 5 Years, Cabaret , and The Music Man along
with numerous others, most recently 2023’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame .
Michael was the vocal director for West Valley Light Opera’s production of Something Rotten
(2022), and has recently worked as the music director and vocal director for Watsonville High
School’s productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Alice by Heart. Michael’s compositions have
been featured in recent seasons with New Music Works (Santa Cruz), Ensemble Monterey, the
San Francisco Choral Artists and the San Francisco Bach Choir. Though the premiere is
currently delayed, his opera The Nightingale (with a libretto by Lee and Lincoln Taiz) is slated for
performance in the near future by UCSC’s Opera Theater.
