One to Watch: Michael Howell, classical music ground-breaker

Classically Black is taking place this Saturday 10th at Kings Place in King’s Cross, the first Black and global majority classical music festival in this country; only in its third year, it is already a crucial part of London’s music scene with its performances and talks advancing the conversation and providing inspiration in showing classical can be for everybody.

Of course, such welcome progressions needs ground-breaking figures, and one such is Michael Howell. This breakout star of Channel 4’s The Piano – a performance which despite its virality still sends a shiver down you when you watch it afresh - is not only breaking new ground for Black artist but also neuro-divergent ones.

“After playing last year, Classically Black have invited me back to speak, on a panel,” he tells us, “The subject is called Under the Skin, One People, which talks about, the intersectional identities, and the challenges that myself as a neuro-divergent musician face and also being a black man in classical music as well.”

27 year old Howell, who comes from Brentford, is very clear on the challenges he faces in the industry.

“Firstly, there’s being neuro-divergent and being misunderstood. I've worked in the music industry before with somebody and at first they were very excited to work with me, but I have some productivity issues relating to ADHD - immediately they dismissed me as being lazy, and not being serious. Saying, ‘you need to get your act together if you really want this, you would have done the work by now.’ I understood the perspective of where the person was coming from, but at the same time it was very disingenuous and did not consider my challenges and issues.”

He continues, “The next aspect is being stereotyped as a Black man. I'm often judged as being a rapper or an R&B singer. I was on the train once and somebody was just making friendly conversation, and they said, what is it I do? And I said, I'm a musician. And then I said to him that I, I'm an operatic singer and composer and pianist, and he was shocked.

He said, ‘I thought you were going to say you were a rapper or an R&B singer.’ That is just one aspect of the racial tensions and judgments.’”

Howell’s journey into the forefront of these conversations is itself a remarkable story of barrier-smashing and singular intent, where notions of the ‘correct way of doing things’ are irrelevant. He is entirely self-taught on the piano, which began at 11 when he used a phone app to learn how to play – not only did it allow him to get to grips with the instrument, it opened up the world of classical to him, and he became obsessed. As a younger child he already had an instinctive affinity for music, saying “I would mimic sounds on British Airways adverts and Songs of Praise.” And remarkably, he held onto this impulse even as he began to make his own compositions, famously singing in his own language, was displayed so powerfully on The Piano in the song Great is the Grief.

“The phenomenon you’re referring to is called Echolalian,” he says, “It there from the beginning. I listened to a lot of opera and I wouldn't understand a word what was being said, but I understood the emotion and I understood how to replicate it. So I used what I call abstract vocalism. It’s the manipulation of foreign languages - Italian, German, French – so it sounds like it's those, but it isn't, it's made up.

The voice is treated solely like an instrument rather than having a lyrical meaning. It expresses the power of music because music surpasses lyrical meaning, or language understanding. We're now dealing with music being the meaning itself, the sound being the meaning itself, and the emotions is brought through the sound of the music rather than the lyrics. That was my way of doing things.”

He smiles at the responses it has brought.

“When I explain it to people, they're like, what do you mean there's no words? What do you mean it's made-up language? I remember watching back The Piano on Channel 4, seeing Mika and Lang Lang's reactions. I always astound people. I always shock people with my music. There is a genius within the idea and concept, that music is the meaning itself, you don't necessarily need to understand it, as long as you're feeling it, that's the important thing.”

Howell pleasingly often talks this way, displaying an easy confidence that isn’t braggadocio but certainty, and a trust in his own instincts. His methodology combines classical knowledge with a pop star’s innate feeling; he wouldn’t write out his compositions, rather just hear them within and record himself playing them straight out. More like The Beatles than Beethoven.

His almost secret bedroom talents became discovered at Richmond-upon-Thames college, where he was spotted by Paul Smith, who encouraged Howell and pressed the college to fund the recording of Great is the Grief. Once it was out on Spotify and YouTube, it quickly gained attention and the BBC ran a story on his remarkable story, before The Piano came calling... he had seen the show and made an application.

“I just hoped to het in and I did. I’ll never forget, it was Victoria Station around February 2024, we did the filming and I met Claudia Winkleman. I remember she said to me, ‘The station was empty until you opened your mouth and sung.’ it was a beautiful experience and then also the final down at Manchester as well, that was very magical.”

Yet even after that, the challenge remains for him to keep recording and playing and building his career. He says life didn’t change for him as such, and he is still dealing with the mechanics of trying to establish yourself in classical music. Still, if anyone can do it, it’s Howell, and his way of approaching it is to combine educational work – particularly playing to children with learning difficulties – with his artistry.

“Currently I am working on my debut album, and my plan is to release it in 2027. I’ve been working in the background on funding for that and have had support from the Will Smith Emerging Artists Fund. I did get to meet him and shake his hand, and it’s great to have his endorsement. But I need more capital to make this a good quality album.”

You sense this will all come to fruition; Howell’s message is too strong not to.

“I believe that music is a pure form that moves people and touches souls and hearts. That is my main agenda really, and to express my inner personal feelings as well for the music, and also represent being a neuro-divergent black person in classical music. To show people that it is possible to carve out an artist's career in music.”