Biographical and career information

Raised in Winter Park, Florida

Winter Park, Florida

Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Michael began his career as a singer and whistler as a child, performing with a boys' choir and touring as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...

's one act opera Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...

.
When he was three years old his aunt gave him a pet canary that supposedly inspired him to whistle.http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/02/28/1046407752404.html In the first grade, Michael was awarded "best whistler" of his class, foreshadowing what would come in his musical career. At the age of 11, Michael appeared on the Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 show Figure It Out

Figure It Out

Figure It Out is an American children's game show hosted by Summer Sanders that aired on Nickelodeon for four seasons from July 7, 1997 to December 12, 1999....

and whistled an aria from Faust.

Michael won several of the national whistling competitions held by the IWC

IWC

IWC may refer to:*International WaterCentre, provides education and training, applied research and expert services in integrated water resource management*International Wrestling Cartel, a professional Wrestling company...

in Louisburg, North Carolina as a teen http://www.whistlingiwc.com/history-page5.html. Upon winning the grand title of World Champion at the Millennium Championship of Musical Whistling in Edmonton, Alberta in 1999, he began performing around the world, whistling operatic arias, particularly those with fast coloratura

Coloratura

Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...

. His most well known whistled arias are: The Vengeance Aria (Mozart) The Jewel Song (Gounod) and Mercè Dilette Amiche (Verdi).

Michael Barimo attended Columbia College of Columbia University

Columbia College of Columbia University

Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...

 in New York City from 2002 to 2006, graduating with two B.A.'s in Italian Literature and Anthropology.
He won the 2002 Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...

 scholarship from National Italian American Foundation

National Italian American Foundation

The National Italian American Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage...

 (NIAF) and performed at galas in D.C. and Connecticut. On March 30, 2003, while a freshman at Columbia, Michael appeared as the musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,438957,00.html

Michael has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with the IBLA Foundation and was presented the Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...

 award.http://www.ibla.org/press/2004.review.html, he was presented with an award by the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 and performed at their annual gala held at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. On November 30, 2007, Michael performed a one-man concert for the Italian Legion of Merit. On November 11, 2008, he performed for Ten O'clock Classics http://www.tocmusic.com/ at their gala at the Russian Tea Room

Russian Tea Room

The Russian Tea Room is a restaurant in New York City, located at 150 West 57th Street between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower.-History:...

 in New York. In March 2008 he performed for the Ten O'Clock Classics at The Cutting Room

The Cutting Room

The Cutting Room is an intimate music venue in New York City that opened in late 1999 for music of all varieties.It is co-owned since 1999 by Chris Noth and Berklee College of Music alumnus Steve Walter....

 in New York City http://www.thecuttingroomnyc.com/jax_calendar.php?Y=2008&m=3&d=9&do=show_event&key=d9b02e6c81f48fc9b943f928f1e2f3e7&cal_id=0&language=italian&gmt_ofs=0&view=d30&evt_date=03%2F24%2F2008+-%3Cbr%3E&evt_title=8pm+TEN+O'CLOCK+CLASSIC'S+PRESENTED+BY+Artistic+Director+Ronnie+Segev%3A+muMs+from+HBO's+Oz+hosts+music+from+the+star+of+Law+and+Order%2C+Alicia+Witt%2C+the+world+champion+whistler+Michael+Barimo%2C+Juilliard+Alumni%2C+our+students+from+Mt+Carmel+and+more!++%2F++10pm+ROMERO+Flamenco+Trio+++%2F+++11pm+The+Monday+Night+Open+Jam+Hosted+By+Richie+Cannata].

Career

Michaelhas been profiled in The New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E2DB1E3AF934A25751C0A9659C8B63, America Oggi http://www.comune.ragusa.it/dicono/oggimagazine.html, The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/02/28/1046407752404.html, National Geographic World, Sports Illustrated, The Winter Park Observer, BBC News Online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/3405805.stm, NYC24 http://www.nyc24.org/2003/issue3/story1/page5.html, The Villages Daily Sun http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/articles/2008/03/19/villages/villages02.txt, In summer 2007, Michael modeled clothing for IO DONNA, the style magazine of Corriere dPeople from Winter Park, Floridaella Sera in an issue profiling 'Italiani d'America".

He currently performs on BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's animated series for children, 3rd & Bird

3rd & Bird

3rd & Bird is a television programme aimed at young children, commissioned by Michael Carrington and broadcast on the BBC, which revolves around a community of birds and their adventures. The series premiered on CBeebies in July 2008...

:
"The colourful pre-school animation series, which features the bird-whistling talents of world musical whistling champion Michael Barimo, continues this week with a rollercoaster of an episode."http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk38/tue.shtm

Notable performances:

• Nov 2002, 03, 04, 06: Puccini Foundation, Alice Tully Hall
• Nov 2002 NIAF Annual Gala, Washington, D.C.
• September 2003
• March 2003, 04: IBLA at Carnegie Hall
• March 2007: Il Circolo of the Palm Beaches
• March 2007: Pucciana Exhibit Opening for Giulio Bellutti, NYU Casa Italiana
• April 2007: Loew's Portofino Bay Hotel Harbor Nights
• Nov 2007: Italian Legion of Merit Gala
• March 2008: The Cutting Room
• Nov 2008: Ten O'Clock Classics Gala, Russian Tea Room
  Russian Tea Room
  The Russian Tea Room is a restaurant in New York City, located at 150 West 57th Street between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower.-History:...
  
  

Personal life