Michael C. Bell - Pianist and Composer
Born in Kentucky, 1974, Michael C. Bell began composing his own music at a young age. At 12, he composed his first piano piece. Sometime later, in high school, he wrote a piece for his wind ensemble to play, titled “Saltatio Cum Obscuritatae”, or Dance with Darkness. The school called in the band from the local university to perform it at his band's concert.
Michael wrote music on and off for many years. It wasn’t until after he and his family moved to Georgia that he found inspiration, and time, for a whole album. It took eight months of writing and editing before “In the Stillness” was finished in 2006. It was composed of six piano pieces and four orchestra tracks, the sound simular to that of Jim Brickman and James Horner.
Michael mastered it himself, but was never satisfied that the final product was what he imagined in his mind. In 2009, he decided to have his album professionally engineered and mastered, and “Ballerina” was born.
Christopher Grissom - Sound Engineer
Chris has been involved in audio nearly all of his life and learned the fundamentals of audio at an early age. Chris quickly gained a strong passion for audio and desired to learn as much as possible. He completed the Master of Recording Arts program at The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in October 2008. As a requirement for graduation from the program, he acquired a demanding internship with Audio Analysts, an international sound reinforcement company. Throughout his career, Chris has worked numerous productions ranging from community theatre, corporate events, and nationwide tours. Chris is currently studio manager and assistant Front of House Engineer at Colorado Community Church. He also works as a Freelance Engineer for various production companies, recording studios, and variety of musical performers.
"Working with Michael on Ballerina was unlike any other project I have ever worked on. Having worked on many albums, working on Ballerina was like a breathe of fresh air; unlike anything I had heard before. The raw emotion of the pieces tell a story that can't help but envelope the listener. Michael's writing and arranging have come together to create nothing short of a masterpiece to be listened to time and time again." - Christopher Grissom
"Christopher and I didn't know each other before starting on 'Ballerina' together. I sent Christopher one piano piece and one orchestral piece to mix for me to get a feel for his work, and that's all it took. The difference in quality between my own mixes and what Christopher could draw out of the music was dramatic. I knew we had something special when my wife listened to Christopher's mix of 'Adagio' for the first time and began to cry. Sure, he panned all of the instruments to match a traditional orchestra seating arrangement and had perfectly balanced the instruments so that all parts had a presence, but more than that, he brought the emotion out in the music. After all of these years of writing and recording, I finally get to say, 'When you play this CD, you'll get to hear what I heard when I imagined the music'. I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. Christopher, you are truly talented and I am proud of what we accomplished together." - m