Dr. Michelle Colton is a versatile percussionist who has performed throughout North America, Asia, Europe, and Central America. She often plays with the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and is the co-founder of Oregano Percussion. She has performed with NEXUS, Keiko Abe, and Dame Evelyn Glennie. Her debut solo album, Unpredictable Nature includes three original works and two compositions by members of TorQ Percussion. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Toronto and her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa. She has directed the University of Toronto Steel Pan and Percussion Ensembles and is currently the director and founder of the Percussion Preparatory Department. She is also a Steel Pan Instructor at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Toronto District School Board. In the summers, she instructs high school drumline and frontline ensembles in the US. She has also been guest faculty with the Prairie Music Residency, Birch Creek Percussion and Steel Pan Academy, and the Iowa Ambassadors of Music European tours. Dr. Colton currently serves as the Chapter President of the Ontario Percussive Arts Society. She has presented her research about movement and gesture in marimba performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. She is an artist/endorser of Adams/Pearl Musical Instruments, Dream Cymbals and Gongs, and The Steelpan Store.