Michael L. Roberts
Michael L. Roberts is a film industry music-director, cast-performance coach, composer, and on- set music editor; vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, actor, voiceover artist, presenter, producer, public-speaking coach, and speechwriter.
Michael’s most recent role was as the Cast Vocal Coach for the upcoming film ‘Chevalier’, directed by Stephen Williams. Michael’s previous film credits include: Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Death on the Nile’ (2021), Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ (2021), Dexter Fletcher’s ‘Rocketman’ (2019), and Martin Stitt’s ‘Love/Me/Do’ (2015).
Selected Credits
In his capacity as vocal, piano, and performance coach for the cast of Elton John fantasy-biopic ‘Rocketman’, Michael trained Taron Egerton, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell, Dame Harriet Walter, Gemma Jones, Rachel Muldoon, and others, under the direction of Dexter Fletcher, and the musical supervision of Giles Martin – on-set, at Abbey Road, and at Air Studios. During pre-production and principal photography, he also contributed to the soundtrack as pianist and backing vocalist, and provided on-set piano guides/recordings throughout.
Subsequent promotional press appearances included: INSIDER New York, HollywoodTV, Made In Hollywood, and Entertainment Tonight, as well as bonus-feature contributions for the film’s Blu- Ray release.
An award-winning musician, Roberts has been featured in live broadcasts, interviews, and airplay on BBC, Sky, JazzFM, and more. With frequent and diverse appearances / residencies across the U.K., Europe, the U.S. and the Caribbean, he has performed, supported, and recorded for/with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jr., Rod Stewart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Imelda May, Supergrass, Go West, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Sir John Dankworth, Howard Blake, Sir Michael Parkinson, The Strypes, Storey, and Mark Murphy.
Michael gained international recognition for his BBC Radio 2 performance of an unpublished Cole Porter song: ‘I Know It’s Not Meant For Me’ – which subsequently enjoyed a sell-out Single- launch performance at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room.
He featured in the Jack Daniel’s ‘Sinatra Select’ and ‘Sinatra Century’ promotional campaigns, as UK musical-director, pianist, and vocalist for/with the late Frank Sinatra, Jr.
A Brewin-Dolphin Best Newcomer in Jazz nominee, Michael’s debut record ‘Moving Is Living’ entered at No. 4 on the iTunes Jazz Charts upon its release, and earned Michael a 4-Star Review in The Sunday Times – declaring him to be: “Britain’s answer to Kurt Elling …soulful, mature, immaculate, exhilarating, and in the front rank of this country’s performers.”
Roberts’ compositions are known for their blend of romantic influences with jazz-infused harmony, to match his 20th-century British, Hispanic, and American Beat-inspired lyrics. His original art-song cycle – ‘The Avocatus Suite: Part 1’ – was featured as part of St. Martin-in- the-Fields’ New Music Series, and his original settings of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ were commissioned for performances at the Britten Theatre and the Victoria & Albert Museum, as part of the ‘Sounds And Sweet Airs’ concert series, and subsequent Shakespeare Festival.
Michael is currently completing his art-song-cycle setting of Shakespeare’s ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ for voice and chamber ensemble, and finalising production on a new record of original music – ‘Ghost Rushes’.