Michael Heald is currently associate professor of violin at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia. In England he studied with Emanuel Hurwitz, then at the Royal Northern College of Music with Richard Deakin. He received his masters and doctorate in violin performance at Michigan State University, studying with Walter Verdehr. He has performed in master classes with members of the Kronos, Alban Berg and Amadeus Quartets, Joseph Silverstein and with Yehudi Menuhin, Joseph Fuchs, Ruggiero Ricci, and Franco Gulli.
Michael was a member of the English String Orchestra and he played with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle, as well as the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Philharmonia Orchestras. In Michigan he was concertmaster of the Greater Lansing Symphony, Jackson Symphony and principal second violin of the Michigan Chamber Orchestra. He performed across Europe as assistant concertmaster of the American Sinfonietta.

He has performed many solo and chamber concerts throughout the United States and Europe. Venues include the Bellingham Festival, the Wintergreen Festival, the Methow Festival, Vanderbilt University, Michigan State University, the College of Charleston, the Wagner Hall in Riga, Latvia, and in England at the Elgar Birthplace Museum, and St. George’s, Brandon Hill in Bristol. He has also appeared on BBC Radio. Various concerto performances include those by Bruch, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Elgar, Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto, and Brahms' "Double" Concerto. In 2002 he recorded a compact disc of sonatas by Elgar and Beethoven.

2009/2010 performances include chamber music and solo recitals in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi, Georgia, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He has given master classes across the United States and Great Britain, and has presented at the ASTA National Conference.