What is your name?
Michael Powell

Where are you from?
Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies

Where do you live now?
Kamloops, B.C. Canada

What instruments do you play?
Cello

How long have you played your instrument?
About 50 years

What made you pick that instrument?
A jamaican lady came back from England where she was studying there and opened a music studio and was teaching the cello.

Where did you study?
Foster-Davis Music Studio and the Jamaica School of Music

Please list any awards, accomplishments, etc.
I played in an orchestra in Jamaica conducted by my Uncle James Verity in the movie "Oh Dad, Poor Dad" with Rosalind Russell and Hugh Griffiths duiring an ball scene. Also I played with a Blind Recorder Group in front of the late Princess Alice at a fundraiser for a Nursing Service at King's House the home of the Govenor of Jamaica.

If you could have dinner with any composer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
This is a hard choice . I would like to have dinner with all of them.

What is your favourite genre of music, other than classical music?
Music from Bach to Beatles.

What is your favourite band?
2cellos & the Piano Guys

Other than the KSO, who do you perform with?
The Thompson Valley Orchestra & the Kamloops Brandenburg Ortchestra where I am also a founding member.

What are some interesting places you have traveled to?
England, Wales, Cayman Islands, Lisbon (Portugal), Amsterdam (Holland), Miami

What are your hobbies outside of music?
Stained Glass & Collecting Cd's

What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?
Chocolate

What is your guilty pleasure?
Beer

Do you get nervous? And how do you calm your nerves before a performance?
Sometimes I still do, howver as Martin Kratky tells me "get into the zone".

Please add anything that you'd like to share with our audience
I have been playing in the KSO as a community player and one of three founding members left playing along with Annette Dominoik and Irene Whitfield. My Uncle James Verity was the first music director and Alan Reed, my Brother-In-Law with his two kids was the first French Horn section. I was also the Music Librarian for the first seven years of the KSO. I am 79 years old and I think the oldest player in the KSO and I hope to continue playing as long as I am able to as it has been a part of my life for 42 years.