Christine Margaret Michell (; born 1951) AKA Christa Michell, is an English flautist and composer of ambient-classic and New Age music; ''Dolphin Love'' album (1991) was an early example of the
New Age genre, with dolphin, whale and sea sounds, intrinsic to the musical texture.
Early life and education
With Welsh, Scottish and Irish ancestry, Hughes was born in
Hampton, near
Malpas, Cheshire, England. She attended the
University of Liverpool (1969—72) and the
Guildhall School of Music
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
(1972—73), London.
Career
Michell became sub-principal flute/piccolo with
Welsh National Opera for five years (1976—81), as well as freelancing with
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
BBC,
English National Ballet,
Opera North,
Manchester Camerata
The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances.
The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...
, and
Northern Ballet until 1986. Her teaching positions included the
Royal College of Music's junior department,
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...
,
Putney High School,
Royal High School, Bath
Royal High School Bath is an independent day and boarding school for girls and in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, catering for up to 650 pupils. The school is on Lansdown Road, just outside Bath city centre, and has boarding facilities for ...
, and
Wells Cathedral School, Somerset.
Michell started her independent record label, Astarte Music Productions, in 1989. Mark Vibrans produced her first album ''Song for Sophie'' 1989 for Astarte Music. Michell also started performing with Nigel Shaw at this time and developed the free improvisatory style that became their trademark, in the album ''Dreaming Pool'' 1990.
In 1991 she recorded ''Dolphin Love'' with Clifford White and Arnie Sage and this proved to be a popular album in UK, USA and Australia.
After performing at an International New Age Music Conference in Los Angeles in 1991, Michell was offered a record deal with World Discs, USA and later Northsound, USA (now liquidated); as well as with New World in Australia and Oreade Music, Netherlands.
In 1999, Michell (as Christa Michell) recorded ''Tibetan Chakra Meditations'' with Ben Scott, giving a 5% Royalty from each album sold to the Tibet Relief Fund, London.
In 2001 she had a personal audience and performed for the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. She presented him with her album ''Tibetan Freedom Chants'', which was recorded with monk
Ven. Bhagdro, to raise money and awareness for the Tibetan cause.
Discography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michell, Chris
Living people
1951 births
English flautists
Ambient musicians
New-age musicians