Michael Malis is a composer, pianist, and music educator based in Detroit, MI. Noted for his
“jaw-dropping display of improvisational power” (All About Jazz), Malis has taught at the
University of Michigan and Interlochen Arts Academy. He is now a Doctoral Candidate at the
University of Michigan.

As a recording artist, he has released 13 albums. His music has been described as “downright
transcendental” (Maggot Brain Magazine) and “uncommonly mature” (Detroit Free Press). He
was noted as “among the most compelling Detroit jazz musicians of his generation” (Jazz From
Detroit, University of Michigan Press). His compositions have been performed across the United
States, including at Harvard University, the University of Maryland, The Owl (Brooklyn), and
Orchestral Hall (Detroit).

In 2024, he was commissioned by ProMusica Detroit to compose a song cycle based on the
poetry of seminal Greek diaspora poet C.P. Cavafy. It premiered in Detroit and will be presented
by the Kombos Collective in Michigan and California in 2025-2026.

He is the founder of Other Tones, a concert series providing performance opportunities for local
and national composer-performers. To date, Other Tones has presented 22 artists from 7 cities to
Detroit audiences. All proceeds from concerts go to presenting artists. The series centers artists
from underrepresented groups, presenting a majority of queer, BIPOC, and women or femme-
identifying artists.

Other Tones has grown out of a decade of arts advocacy and volunteerism. Malis was a founding
member of Polyfold Musical Arts Collective, has served on numerous panels and curatorial
boards, has advised the Hellenic Museum of Michigan in developing their musical vision. He
performs at benefit concerts, including for Focus Detroit, an Orthodox Christian service ministry.
He is a board member of the Rosedale Park Improvement Association, which serves the
Westside-Detroit neighborhood where he lives with his wife and four-year-old son.