Dr. Steven Michelson graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in 1968 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. He attended graduate school for a year (1968-69) to obtain his Secondary Teaching Credential and simultaneously to work on his Masters Degree in Music Education.  He then served a two-year tour of duty in the U.S. Navy in Hawaii. He began his teaching career at Monte vista High School in Danville, California, where he taught for eleven years (1971-1982). He completed his Masters Degree in Music Education at UOP in 1973.

After teaching at Monte Vista High School, he attended Arizona State University, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) after two years of study with Dr.Douglas McEwen (1982-1984). He then served as Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Michigan State University for six year (1984-1990). Following that period, he went on to Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, where he served as Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities for two years (1990-1992). Following his second year at Murray State University, he made the decision with his family to relocate to the Northwest and settled in Helena, Montana, where he accepted the position as Choral Director at Helena High School. He remained there until his retirement in 2013 (199202013), having been in the music education/choral director profession for 40 years.

In his second year at Murray State University, his Concert Choir received an invitation to perform at the Kentucky Music Educators State Convention. At Helena High School, his auditioned mixed choir, Starlighters, and his auditioned women’s choir, Ambiance, performed several times at regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and regional and national conferences of the Music Educators National Convention (MENC). In 1994, at the request of MENC, Dr. Michelson wrote a book for aspiring and current choir directors entitled Getting Started in High School Choir. The book is still available on Amazon and through MENC and has been used in secondary choral methods classes in colleges and universities. In 1999, Dr. Michelson formed a community choir called the Helena Chamber Singers. He continued to conduct that choir until the Covid Pandemic hit our country. The choir resumed rehearsals in January 2023, exactly three years after Covid-19 shut everything down.