Michael Bell studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Derryck Wyndham and Sulamita Aronovsky and later at the State Academy of Music in Warsaw, after being awarded the Chopin Fellowship by the Polish government. He has won several other awards and prizes at national and international piano competitions and has given numerous performances throughout Europe, Africa and Australia. He has also broadcast on television and radio.

An extensive solo repertoire includes over 30 concertos and he has recorded works by Haydn, Janacek, Tchaikovsky and Grieg as well as contemporary piano music, including a new piece dedicated to him by Peter Seabourne.

Michael is often invited to sit on jury panels at international piano competitions. He is a Lecturer and Director of Performance at Keele University on a part-time basis and also works as accompanist and chamber music player. He has proved to be a very popular member of the ICMSS coaching team.