Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Michael Bursey started playing the violin at an early age. He later switched to the viola after breaking his thumb and fingers playing football. He studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Quebec. At the Conservatoire, he obtained his master’s degree in Viola Performance, studying viola with Francois Paradis and chamber music with Darren Lowe. He also had the opportunity to study with Pinchas Zuckerman and Steven Dann at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as well as Roberto Diaz and Bruno Giuranna at Domaine Forget in Quebec. He is a former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
While in Quebec, he played regularly with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Sherbrooke, Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay Lac St. Jean and Orchestre symphonique de L’Estuaire. Shortly after graduating in Quebec, he obtained his position with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with such artists as Anton Kuerti, Jonathan Crow, Joseph Johnson, Charles Foreman, Kathleen Van Mourik and much of the Quebec City, Regina and Calgary musical communities.
In his free time he enjoys playing with his kids: hockey, basketball, body-slam tag, body-slam soccer, body-slam hide-and-go seek and unfortunately, body-slam ping pong are all family favorites. He also enjoys reading, thinking about life, staying away from negative people, and eating BLT sandwiches.