Michael Zlabinger

Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to an American mother and Austrian father, with one older brother by four years, he spent his early years in Florida and Tennessee where his father taught Economics and his mother taught English at the university level. His father relocated the family to his native Austria to found The Carl Menger Institute in Vienna, a private institute for humane studies, as a platform for economists in Central and Eastern Europe. Michael's mother continued teaching I.B. level English at the English-speaking international school where Michael attended from fifth to twelfth grade. The diverse and international background of the school community influenced Michael's world view and his formative years in Vienna shaped him as an artist with rich exposure to European theater, art, opera, and classical music, both in Vienna as well as in yearly trips to London and Stratford. As a young artist, Michael sang with his high school choir at Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus, perf