Michael Flynn is a composer of acoustic and electronic music whose works present familiar musical ideas in inventive sonic and structural contexts. To this end, his music juxtaposes timbral exploration and metric complexity with pop-music-inflected harmony and beat-driven groove. Drawn towards bright, sparkling timbres, Michael strives to create works that feature vividly colored, dreamlike sound worlds. Michael’s music has been featured at events such as the SPLICE Institute and Festival, the CHIME Festival, the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP), the National Student Electronic Music Event (NSEME), the Northwestern University New Music Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and the SEAMUS National Conference. Michael has written for performers and ensembles including the Chicago Composer's Orchestra, Sonic Hedgehog, the Found Sound New Music Ensemble, the Vital Organ Project, the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, HINGE, and SpacePants, among others.
Michael graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College Chicago in 2016 with a bachelor of music in composition. While at Columbia, he received the William Russo Endowed Scholarship for Excellence in Music, presented to one student per year in Columbia College's music department. His teachers at Columbia included Kenn Kumpf, Eliza Brown, and Francisco Castillo-Trigueros. In the spring of 2018, Michael earned a master's degree in composition from Western Michigan University, studying under Christopher Biggs and Lisa Coons. During the 2018-19 school year, Michael held a part-time faculty position at Western Michigan, teaching courses in music theory and electronic music. In the spring of 2023, Michael graduated with a DMA in composition from the University of Georgia, studying under Emily Koh, Andrew McManus, Adrian Childs, and Peter Van Zandt Lane.
