Michael Rider

Michael C. Rider is a voice teacher, coach, performer and music director with a specialty in music theater and cabaret techniques and the development of the belt voice.
He has been teaching in his private studio in NYC for nearly 15 years. He is also an adjunct professor of Voice at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University (MSU), where he teaches music theater voice and performance technique. His students regularly appear in shows on Broadway and off-Broadway, in regional theaters around the country, and in national and international tours. Michael performs cabaret in NYC, and he has worked collaboratively at the piano with singers for cabarets in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Hong Kong. He works as a contributing correspondent CabaretHotSpot.com, writing reviews of cabaret shows as well as artist interviews and album reviews.

Michael previously served on the faculty of CAP21/NYU Tisch School of the Arts and as a coach/accompanist at Westminster Choir College. He has presented workshops at NATS Regional Festivals, NYSTA’s Professional Development Program, the World Voice Health Day and the North East Theatre Festival for the EDTA (Educational Drama Teachers Association). He served as a theater clinician at the Beacon School in New York and as music director for various productions there, including the first high school productions of Rent and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His other music direction credits include Sideshow; Falsettos; Bye, Bye, Birdie; Sweet Charity; Pippin; The Music Man, and others. Michael is a graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University with an MM in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, and Penn State University with a BMus in Voice Performance. He is a member of the board of directors for the NYC chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) as well as a member of New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA), Music Theater Educators Alliance (MTEA), Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs (MAC) and the National Opera Association (NOA).