Micah Burgess

Originally from West Virginia, Micah Burgess began playing guitar at age 9 and by age 15 he was playing professionally at local nightclubs and for corporate events. Micah credits his early professional experiences with broadening his musical taste and skill set. “When I started playing guitar I listened mostly to classic rock players and modern shredders,”, recalls Micah, “but once I started working regularly I found myself playing a lot of R&B, funk, blues, and jazz. We had to have a lot of varied material because our typical gig was four hours long!”

Upon graduating high school, Micah moved to Pittsburgh, PA to earn a Bachelor’s in jazz studies from Duquesne University. After graduating he settled into the Pittsburgh scene where he found regular work as a guitarist and guitar teacher. Several years after finishing his degree, Micah and his wife made the difficult decision to move to New York City so Micah could pursue a Master’s degree in jazz studies at New York University. Micah recalls, “I loved living in Pittsburgh, but the problem was that I was too comfortable. I wanted to go somewhere bigger to test my potential.”
Since moving to New York City in 2004, Micah has developed a varied career which includes performances with such artists as Lea Michele (Carnegie Hall), Tituss Burgess (Kennedy Center), Petula Clark (US tour), John Oliver, Matthew Broderick, Sir Ian McKellan, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Odom Jr., Rachel Dratch, Chris Meloni, Stephen Schwartz, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Megan Hiltey, Jeremy Jordan, Chuck Cooper, Richard Kind, Danielle Hope, Charlotte Jaconelli, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Seth Rudetsky, Harriet Harris, Katie Rose Clarke, Tracie Thoms, Shoshana Bean, Constantine Maroulis, Krysta Rodriguez, Joe Iconis, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, and Danny and the Juniors among others. His playing has been heard on television and radio including the 2014 Winter Olympics, ABC Family’s “Becoming Us”, and National Public Radio.

A staple on the NYC theater scene, Micah’s theater credits include School of Rock (Broadway), Scotland, PA (off-Broadway), Banana Shpeel (Cirque du Soleil), Soul Doctor (off-Broadway), Storyville (off-Broadway), and Tomorrow Morning (off-Broadway). He has also lended his talents as a sub guitarist on “MJ, the Michael Jackson Musical” (Broadway), “Kimberly Akimbo” (Broadway), “The Lightning Thief” (Broadway), “Be More Chill” (Broadway), “Beautiful, the Carole King Show” (Broadway), “Newsies” (Broadway), and “Soul Doctor” (Broadway).

As a composer, Micah co-wrote the score for “In The Magic of the Green Mountains”, a feature length documentary with Rob Cookman featuring Tony Trischka on banjo. Other composing credits include the Off-Broadway production of “The Hat Left Behind” as well as a documentary entitled “I Am Bombay”, a featured selection at the 2006 Indo American Arts Council Film Festival in New York City and the 2007 Stuttgart Film Festival Germany. In 2008, Micah released his first CD as a bandleader, “We Do Know You”.

As a guitar instructor, Micah has over twenty years of experience including adjunct positions at New York University, The New School, Duquesne University and the Queens Conservatory. He is a co-founder and Executive Director of Art House Astoria, a nonprofit conservatory for music and art in Queens, NY.