Michael Heald is presently professor of violin at the University of Georgia. While he was still in his native England he studied with Angus Watson at Winchester College, privately with Emanuel Hurwitz, then completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he was a student of Richard Deakin. As a student of Walter Verdehr, he received the Master of Music in 1991 and the Doctorate in Violin Performance in 1998, both at Michigan State University.

Between 1991 and 1994 Michael was a member of the English String Orchestra, and played regularly with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra, amongst others. In Michigan he was Concertmaster of the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra and principal Second Violin of the Michigan Chamber Orchestra. He is now a member of the American Sinfonietta and Concertmaster of the Jackson Symphony in Michigan.

Performances have included many solo and chamber recitals on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Bellingham Festival of Music and at St. George’s, Brandon Hill, Bristol. Various concerto performances include those by Bach, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and Elgar, and most recently Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto and Brahms' "Double" Concerto. This summer he is performing concerts throughout the United Kingdom and in Riga, Latvia.