Michael Trainor has a varied career as soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster.

His solo performances have included many BBC radio broadcasts but the standout performances have included Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and a world premiere of Philip Hammond’s ‘Concertino,’ both with the Ulster Orchestra. He has also been a guest solo and chamber artist at the Clandeboye International Music Festival along with Southwell, Marylebone and St. Mere Festivals. More recently, he was selected to feature as a soloist for BBC’s ‘Classical Connections’ programme for 2018//19 broadcasts and he also performed Beethoven’s ‘Triple’ Concerto with his two brothers back in Belfast!

Michael is in high demand as a chamber musician and has devoted his musical life to chamber music since leaving the Royal Academy of Music. He is a founding member of the Piatti Quartet and the quartet has won many plaudits and awards along the way (see quartet biography), while their recordings for Linn Records, Champs Hill Records, and 33 Jazz record labels have all received critical acclaim. He enjoys swapping between the two violin positions in the quartet.

Michael was acting leader of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra (Dublin) for a season whilst still at the RAM and has been invited for concertmaster performances with different orchestras around the UK and Ireland since then. His most recent concertmaster invitations have included the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,the John Wilson Orchestra (including the 2017 BBC Proms and the Harrogate and Aldeburgh Festivals in 2018), the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and performances with Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett at the Royal Albert Hall.

He plays on a 1735 Gennaro Gagliano violin on loan from an anonymous donor.