In the 2023/2024 season, Mr. Shell directs La bohème with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater’s production of Sweeney Todd. Recent seasons saw new productions by Mr. Shell of beloved works, including The Turn of the Screw, The Barber of Seville, Candide, A Little Night Music, and West Side Story.

Especially sought-after for his direction in the US, his "thoughtful and detailed score study" (Opera Today) is shown in the character development and relationships onstage, as well as the complete visual world he creates.   

Michael has directed productions for Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Omaha, Opera San Jose, Opera Tampa, Opera North, Virginia Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Houston Grand Opera. In 2010, he made his international directing debut at the Wexford Festival Opera with a production of Winners by American composer Richard Wargo and returned the next fall to direct Double Trouble – Trouble in Tahiti & The Telephone. He has written and directed three cabarets, including All About Love and The Glamorous Life - A group therapy session for Opera Singers, both for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. 

Mr. Shell is currently an Associate Professor of Music in Voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Resident Stage Director for IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater. In the 2020/2021 season, Shell directed all five of their productions under COVID protocols when no other U.S. academic institution or opera company was presenting fully staged indoor productions. The school’s The Turn of the Screw won a National Opera Association award for Best Opera Production that season.

A champion of new and underrepresented works in the repertoire, Mr. Shell has often spearheaded the production and telling of these important stories. In 2023, he presented the first installment of the New Works Series at the IU Jacobs School of Music on “Swimming in the Dark,” a story based on the book written by Polish author Tomasz Jedrowski. Set in the early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, it is a passionate and tender coming-of-age story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide. Shining light on works that are representative of the people on stage and sitting in the audience is an integral part of his role as an educator and advocate. 

Mr. Shell’s open-minded and collaborative approach to the rehearsal process has led him to be invited as a guest faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Florida State University, and Webster University – St. Louis, teaching Opera Workshop and directing Undergraduate Opera Workshop performances. In addition, Shell has been guest director at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and Oklahoma University, and was frequent guest director at Indiana University before joining its faculty. He was also a faculty member of the Summer Opera Program at the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute.

Mr. Shell holds a B.M. and M.M. in Music/Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was a Corbett Scholar at The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and studied Acting and Scene Study on a school-awarded scholarship at the internationally renowned H.B. Studios in NYC.