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 is a recipient of Greek America Foundation’s 40 under 40 award. He has taught at the University of Michigan and Interlochen Arts Academy, and is now a Doctoral Student 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).

As a pianist, Malis has shared the stage with a diverse array of musicians, including Marcus Belgrave, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Robert Hurst, Gerald Cleaver, Jaribu Shahid, John Lindberg, William Hooker, A. Spencer Barefield, Tyshawn Sorey, Brandee Younger, J.D. Allen, and Marion   Hayden. He has performed at the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Yokohama, Japan), the Kennedy Center, Birdland (NYC), and The Stone (NYC).

Constantine Novotny is a recent graduate of the Master of Sacred Music program at the University of Notre Dame. He was previously the 2013-2015 Samuel Ramey Opera Fellowship recipient during his graduate studies at Wichita State University, and also holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Oakland University in Rochester, MI.

A native of the Metro-Detroit area, Constantine has performed with a variety of ensembles including the Apollo’s Fire Singers, American Bach Soloists, American Classical Orchestra, Artefact Ensemble, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Musica Sacra, Audivi, Sounding Light, the Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus, the Bach Cantata Academy Ensemble, and the Carnegie Hall Chamber Chorale alongside the Tallis Scholars. With the American Bach Soloists, Constantine has performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion one-on-a-part as the Choir II Bass and also been featured in a concert at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral singing selections from Mondonville’s Cantate Domino. In February 2024, Constantine performed the world premiere of song cycle Another Shore, Another Country composed by Michael Malis using the poetry of C.P. Cavafy as part of the Pro Musica Detroit concert series.

Operatic highlights include the title role in Don Giovanni and Sid in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring with Opera MODO, Dottore Grenvil in La Traviata with Arbor Opera Theater, Gueusselin in Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, and Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance with Opera Notre Dame. He has been frequently heard as a chorister and soloist at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, MI, from 2018-2019 was the cantor at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Elkhart, IN, and was recently a member of the Choir of St. Luke in the Fields in New York City.