Michael Compitello is a dynamic, “fast rising” (WQXR) percussionist active as a chamber musician, soloist, and teaching artist.  

He has performed with Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Signal, Ensemble ACJW, and has worked with composers Helmut Lachenmann, Nicolaus A. Huber, David Lang, John Luther Adams, Alejandro Viñao, Marc Applebaum, and Martin Bresnick on premieres and performances of new solo and chamber works. 

 Currently, Michael’s Unsnared Drum project seeks to reinvent the much-maligned instrument through collaboration with four of America’s most esteemed women composers. Other recent commissions include works from Robert Honstein and Thomas Kotcheff.

 With cellist Hannah Collins as New Morse Code, Michael has created a singular and personal repertoire through long-term collaboration with some of America’s most esteemed young composers. Their debut album, Simplicity Itself, described as “a flag of genuineness raised” (WQXR), was released in 2017 on New Focus Recordings. 

In 2019 they released the title suite of Matthew Barnson’s portrait album, Vanitas, on innova recordings and collaborated with Eliza Bagg, Lee Dionne, and andPlay on and all the days were purple, Alex Weiser’s Pulitzer Prize-finalist work on Cantaloupe music. In 2020, New Morse Code was awarded the inaugural Ariel AVANT Impact Performance Award, which supports ensembles and collaborations designed to generate productive conversation and offer positive means of action around social justice issues.

 In addition to his work with New Morse Code, Michael performs with the Percussion Collective, an innovative ensemble seeking to create unforgettable concert experiences around new and recent percussion repertoire.  

 Michael is Assistant Professor of Percussion at Arizona State University, and is Assistant Director of Avaloch Farm Music Institute.