Michael L. Roberts is a UK/US film industry music-director, vocal-producer, cast-performance coach, composer, and on-set music editor; a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, presenter and songwriter; and an actor, screenwriter, film editor and director.
With multiple features currently in production / as yet unannounced for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and more, Michael’s film and series credits include: Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2022) and Death On The Nile (2022), Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman (2019), HBO’s House Of The Dragon (2022), Peter Cattaneo’s Flatshare (2022), Stephen Williams’ Chevalier (2023), and The Russo Brothers’ Citadel (2023).
With additional training in international relations, political science, global political economy, and classical rhetoric, Roberts is a communication strategist, public-speaking coach, and speechwriter at cynospeak.com - providing confidential executive-level coaching and speechwriting / presentation services, via his unique methods, to senior figures in finance, law, technology, and philanthropy.
He has contributed analysis to, and ghost-edited, several books and academic articles within the fields of rhetoric, political history, global political economy, and music history.
Michael is a postgraduate alumnus of Richmond, The American University in London. He is a GlobalWelsh Pioneer, a member of the UK Speechwriters Guild, European Speechwriters Network, and The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, a former member of Chatham House, and a professional associate of the Creative Careers Centre at the Royal College of Music.
Michael L. Roberts is represented by Air Edel Associates.
His work in film is archived at the National Library of Wales.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:
‘TV Nature-Documentary’ voiceover for SONOS / John Lewis & Partners
Voiceover-recitation of the National Poet of Wales - Ifor ap Glyn’s - ‘You can take the boy out of Wales…’
for the GlobalWelsh Organisation
Writing/recording the original poem ‘All Soon Will Be Well’ for the Andra Tutto Bene Festival, Italy
Annual Wreath-laying Memorial Recitation for the Dylan Thomas Society of Great Britain, at the request of the Thomas family, at Westminster Abbey
Digital release of The Air That Drew Away: Michael L. Roberts Reads Dylan Thomas, with a record-launch performance at The London Poetry Society
A vocal performance of the 25 ‘official’ James Bond songs to promote the release of No Time To Die for MGM, at The Conduit Club, London.
vocal producer / session production, arrangements, and piano parts for multiple major-label artists (to be announced)
Additional Pianist for Death On The Nile and several feature-film soundtracks (to be announced)
In his capacity as vocal, piano, and performance coach for the cast of Elton John fantasy-biopic Rocketman, Michael trained Taron Egerton, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell, Dame Harriet Walter, Gemma Jones, Rachel Muldoon, and others, under the direction of Dexter Fletcher, and the musical supervision of Giles Martin - on-set, at Abbey Road, and at Air Studios. Subsequent promotional press appearances included: INSIDER New York, HollywoodTV, Made In Hollywood, and Entertainment Tonight, as well as bonus-feature contributions for the film’s Blu-Ray release.
TWELFTH PEER PRODUCTIONS:
As founder of cultural & political broadcasting company ‘Twelfth Peer Productions’, Michael responded to the pandemic by creating, producing, and presenting a new YouTube series - The Late Night Noisecast, which featured weekly interviews and music selections from his ‘Super-Circle’ of artists, and provided promotional support therein. The series also spawned several comedic ‘The SpoofNoise Saga’ shorts, starring Roberts, in the vein of ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Quantum Leap’, and ‘Zucker, Abrahams, & Zucker’.
Interviewees have included ‘Rocketman’s ‘Kiki Dee’ - Rachel Muldoon ; legendary drummer Steve Rushton ; bassist for Tom Jones, Laura Marling, and Ethan Johns - Nick Pini ; Ivor Award-winning composer, orchestrator, and saxophonist - Charlotte Harding ; and the granddaughter of Hollywood legend Burgess Meredith - Annie Mae Pilon. Music selections have included Eli Moon, Nadine Benjamin, Fiona Ross, Flying Machines, Warmer Than Blood, and Joo Yeon Sir.
2020 also saw a reboot of Twelfth Peer’s popular US-Politics podcast - The American Chronicle - hosted by Michael, with weekly analysis from political historian and author - Dr. James D. Boys - in the run up to the November Presidential Election.
In 2023/24, Twelfth Peer pivots towards screenwriting, filmmaking, music-video direction and record/vocal production.
VOCAL ARTIST, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, & COMPOSER:
An award-winning musician, Roberts has been featured in live broadcasts, interviews, and airplay on BBC, Sky, JazzFM, and more.
With frequent and diverse appearances / residencies across the U.K., Europe, the U.S. and the Caribbean, he has performed, supported, and recorded for/with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jr., Rod Stewart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Imelda May, Supergrass, Go West, Cuba Gooding, Jr., John Dankworth, Howard Blake, Michael Parkinson, The Strypes, Storey, and Mark Murphy.
Michael gained international recognition for his BBC Radio 2 performance of an unpublished Cole Porter song: I Know It’s Not Meant For Me - for The Russell Davies Show - which subsequently enjoyed a sell-out Single-launch performance at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room.
He featured in the Jack Daniel's 'Sinatra Select' and ‘Sinatra Century’ promotional campaigns, as UK musical-director, pianist, and vocalist for/with the late, great Frank Sinatra, Jr.
A Brewin-Dolphin Best Newcomer in Jazz nominee, Michael’s debut record Moving Is Living entered at No. 4 on the iTunes Jazz Charts upon its release, and earned Michael a 4-Star Review in The Sunday Times - declaring him to be:
“Britain’s answer to Kurt Elling …
soulful, mature, immaculate, exhilarating,
and in the front rank of this country’s performers”
Roberts’ compositions are known for their blend of romantic influences with jazz-infused harmony, to match his 20th-century British, Hispanic, and American Beat-inspired lyrics.
His original art-song cycle - The Avocatus Suite: Part 1 - was featured as part of St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ New Music Series, and his original settings of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Antony & Cleopatra were commissioned for performances at the Britten Theatre and the Victoria & Albert Museum, as part of the ‘Sounds And Sweet Airs’ concert series, and subsequent Shakespeare Festival.
Michael is currently completing his first three screenplays, vocal-producing and developing songwriting partnerships with leading lights in Pop, completing his art-song-cycle setting of Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra for voice and chamber ensemble, and finalising an E.P. of what he’s coining ‘alternative-cinematic-blues’ originals, Ghost Rushes - slated for digital release in Autumn 2024.