Our Team
Michael Warren
BIPOC Artist-in-Residence
Michael Warren is a Pittsburgh native born on May 7th. In 2004 Michael auditioned and was accepted into what was formerly known as Rogers Creative and Performing Arts Middle School, today it is known as Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12. It was there he met Mr. Henry L. Biggs, Michael’s choral instructor from multiple years. Mr. Biggs was instrumental in getting Michael involved with singing, sight-reading, music theory, and most importantly, the church. Michael dedicated his life to Christ in August of 2006 and joined Nazarene Baptist Church, where Rev. Ricky V. Burgess is the Senior Pastor.
Since 2007, Michael has served in the music ministry at a host of churches, including: Nazarene Baptist Church, Covenant Church, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, Resurrection Baptist Church, Baptist Temple, First Baptist Church of Bridgeville, First Baptist Penn Hills, Wesley Center A.M.E. Zion, and Sixth Mount Zion, just to name a few.
Apart from the church, Michael has served as an adjunct faculty member at The University of Pittsburgh where he was the class accompanist for The Gospel Choir, under the direction of Dr. James Johnson, formerly served as the Director of Chosen Generation Gospel Choir (Slippery Rock University), the founder and director of the Geneva College Gospel Choir (Geneva College), the Executive Director of Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir (The University of Pittsburgh) and currently he serves as the Journey Praise Team Director at East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC) where Rev. Dr. Randy Bush is the head pastor.
As a solo performer, Michael has had the opportunity to travel. In the Summer of 2015, Michael traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria where he performed for 1 week at an International Music Festival. In 2017, Michael became the first Duquesne student to ever hold the title “Campus Superstar” which is an American Idol like competition for collegiate students from all across the greater Pittsburgh area. After competing against 120+ students for the first round, Michael made the top 25. He then went on to make the final round, and eventually was crowned the champion.
Now in his fourth season, Michael serves as an Anthem Singer for the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he performs both the U.S. and Canadian Anthems at PPG Place during the regular season. He is also in his first year as the Anthem Singer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Most recently, Michael performed with Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. in November of 2019 for an event sponsored by The Pittsburgh Promise (which Michael was a 2011 recipient of the scholarship). Michael was also emceed at the event. Immediately following this once in a lifetime opportunity, Michael decided to check off another item on his bucket list by completing his first solo album, entitled A Peace of Christmas, where he sings a mixture of holiday classics and songs celebrating peace.
Michael graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Music Education (2017) a Master of Science in Education Administration (2018) from Duquesne University and is preparing to defend his dissertation and graduate from the Doctor of Educational Leadership program at Duquesne University (2022).
Currently, Michael serves as the Assistant Principal at Pittsburgh King PreK-8 (Pittsburgh Public Schools), after serving as the Director of Choirs in the Avonworth School District where he taught 5th-12th grade choir and 6th-8th grade general music the past few years. Michael is also the Project Hope Fellow, a homeless education initiative sponsored by Duquesne University, the recipient of the Young, Gifted and Black Award (2020) for his commitment and service to his community, the Duquesne Duke of the Decade recipient (2020) for his accomplishments after graduating from the Mary Pappert School of Music and the School of Education, a Digital Promise Teacher of Color Advisory Council member, and finally, the awardee of the Dr. James E. Henderson for his commitment to service, social justice and equity in education.