On the fourteenth day of April in the year 1998 around 5pm, Michael Patrick Shofi was

born in Stamford Connecticut to Leanne Murray and David Shofi. As he was the first child to

them both and the first grandchild on his mother’s side, his birth was kind of a big deal. While I,

Michael Shofi, don’t remember much of this day, I have heard so much about it. Supposedly,

everyone immediately noticed how much I smiled. This trait definitely has not been lost over the

years- I am unable to control my goofy smile 95% of the time! I am also pretty bad at

controlling my face when it comes to shock/disgust/disbelief altogether admittedly. I get this

from my mother. But, back to my beginnings! My parents are both from the tri-state area

(Westchester County and Westport CT), and they met each other in law school! Believe it or

not, they both met at PACE law school (that’s the White Plains campus) and the rest is history.

They both continue to practice law, although for a large part of my childhood my mother took a

hiatus from work and subsequently worked from home. It was really great having her around

most of the time when I was young. I showed an overwhelming interest in music from a very

young age and both my parents did their best to foster that interest. I grew up on 80’s rock/pop

from my mom- U2, The Cure, etc. and 70’s rock from my dad- Pink Floyd, Kiss, etc. And then

in elementary school I found passion in the music of Green Day and Train. I basically trained

myself to imitate Billie Joe Armstrong instead of actually singing. Throughout my childhood I

loved sports, specifically baseball. My dad was my little league coach for multiple years and

always pushed me to be the best I could be. I got pretty great but gave it up when theatre came

around. Whenever I can, I still play men’s softball with my dad in the two leagues he is a part

of.

I remember the first time I thought I may have a passion for music was in the first grade.

My music teacher had us basically write out a few bars of music (in a very simple way), but I
somehow created a nice sounding melodic pattern! And I loved the praise I got from my teacher

as well as my classmates after doing it. After that in the same year, I sang the Star-Spangled

Banner in front of my first-grade class in a little tiny person open mic of sorts. I remember being

scared but feeling so good after getting up and doing it. That was my first performance in public.

Well, elementary school went on and I was a very sociable, sensitive, weird kid. I was the most

active in choir class than anything else and got to sing a solo in the 4th grade winter concert. I

also began to play violin in 4th grade which I continued to play until freshman year of high

school. This was great and all, but when 5th grade came around I really came into my own. I

performed at the fifth-grade talent show, “The Farmingville Follies” and sang “Let It Be” by the

Beatles. Little did I know then, John Lennon would grow to be pretty much my favorite

songwriter of all time. After that performance, my mom and dad got my Alvarez acoustic guitar

(my most prized possession I still use today) and I hit the ground running.

Middle school may have been my favorite three years of life so far. I had my own

personal golden age in pretty much all regards. I began playing guitar well enough to

accompany my singing, so I was performing much more often. I was ahead of the growing curve

in height, so I was the MVP of my basketball team for a few years and did incredibly well in

baseball as well. Well, I guess it wasn’t all a golden age because I tried football for the first time

as a sixth grader, and while I was kind of tall I was SKINNY. I don’t know how I didn’t break in

half while attempting to play that year. I loved being a part of the orchestra through class and I

guess had the skill set to do more, so I began playing violin in the symphonic orchestra which

was a higher lever extra-curricular, and then also joined a better chamber orchestra group that

was very difficult. Looking back, I am so glad I took orchestra instead of choir in middle school.

The orchestra conductor was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, while the choir teacher…
struggled. All of my success in music theory, sight-reading, composing, etc. I trace back to my

history of playing violin and my orchestra conductor Mr. Mac.

In the sixth grade, I played my guitar and sang simultaneously in public for the first time.

It was a performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and that was the first time I started

making connections through my solo work. It was during that talent show when I met one of my

closest friends, Hannah Nossan. She was also playing guitar and singing in the talent show (and

we were immediately crushing on each other). I’ll never forget how I was learning a new song

with her before I went on stage for the show, and forgot to change my capo back for the

performance. I played the entire song in a key I was NOT prepared to sing in, but somehow

pulled it off. Hannah and I became very close after that, meeting to play guitar and sing duets

together all the time.

Seventh grade rolled around and things got wild. I was the happiest I’ve ever been at

school, I started dating a girl for the first time, I had my first kiss in the movie theater watching a

strange adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. And best yet, Hannah (not my girlfriend)

convinced me to do a theatre summer camp with her in my town. The show was Beauty and the

Beast, and I was incredibly hesitant to try theatre. Well, long story short she convinced me and

that summer I did the camp. I was one of only 2 boys in the whole production, so I played the

Beast. I remember loving the feeling of performing, but wasn’t convinced that it was something

I wanted to continue. That is until the theatre company reached out about the next show they

were putting on. It was Les Miserables and after my mom played me the CD of the cast

recording, I knew I had to audition. I was cast as Jean Valjean and from that moment on, I had

been bitten by the theatre bug.

 Going into high school, I had to make some decisions as to what I would be spending my

time doing, and so I cut out sports for the most part except for intermural clubs. I put down the

violin to join choir and started spending most of my time performing in shows and playing

music. After Les Mis, I was reached out to by a voice teacher, Jan Calner who was friends with

the director and had seen the show. She said she would love to work with me, and while I was

hesitant, I began taking voice lessons. I love to think back to the time my voice first started

changing a little and I couldn’t sing Valjean up the octave anymore. Jan told me in one lesson,

“I think you are going to be a bass or a baritone.” She was right about a lot of things, but not

that.

While a lot of my friends in high school enjoyed staying inside and playing video games,

I always wanted to be outside throwing the ball, biking, shooting hoops, playing games, etc. I

kind of held on to everything I grew up with that didn’t involve technology while most kids

bought right into the societal shift. I got my own cell phone for the first time in late 7th grade and

never played games or anything on it, just messaged/emailed my friends now and again.

All through my childhood I had an incredible support system (and still do now). My

grandparents on my father’s side lived in White Plains, NY so they made it to practically every

show and concert I was ever in. I think my most proud moment in high school was singing “My

Way” at a winter concert accompanied by a full orchestra and jazz band. My grandmother who

passed away just a couple years after was so proud of my that day and I was just so happy that

she loved it. When she died my freshman year of college and I couldn’t be there, my family

played the Youtube video of the performance on her deathbed so she could hear me again, and I

don’t think I’ll ever have a performance that can top the impact that one did.
 Back to the sequence of events in my life… I began experimenting with the more adult

experiences and substances the summer before sophomore year of high school. That summer I

went to sleepaway camp for the first time at Frenchwoods (camp for performing arts) and was

cast as Melchior in Spring Awakening. A combination of being in that show and lack of adult

supervision led to some crazy times at sleepaway camp. I came back to high school ready to

party, and party I did. I always looked at it as a positive that I began drinking and experimenting

with things early on, because then when college came around I wasn’t making mistakes as much.

I knew my tolerance and didn’t feel the need to do anything just to do it.

The rest of high school was a blur, and when college finally came around, I shipped out

to Ohio for freshman year. And what a year that was. I know that you (Bob) know a decent

amount about my troubles at Baldwin Wallace, but why not give an overview, right?

When I got to school, I was put in the “honors” dorm which was basically a suburban

house. It held maybe 30 students and the rooms were tiny, but I got along really well with my

roommate! His name was Evan and he was a flute major in the conservatory. He was a

wonderful friend and resource to have when dealing with more difficult music theory concepts. I

was constantly in class, sometimes from 7:00am to 5:00pm, and to make it even crazier I was

cast as the Jet swing in West Side Story my first semester. Rehearsals would run late into the

night and we were doing the original Jerome Robbins choreography. I was NOT a dancer

coming into school, and while I was able to learn every jet track and go on for 4 performances as

Snowboy when Matt got a concussion, I was shown no mercy. The choreographer was the same

teacher we had for jazz and tap, and he was borderline abusive. I mean, he would say things that

would not fly for a second at Pace. There were some wonderful classes and professors there that

I learned a TON from, but this one teacher was such a large part of the curriculum that he was
impossible to ignore. The Ohio winter was brutal and I have vivid memories of trudging through

the snow across campus at 6:45am to make it to ballet bootcamp on time. And by the way, ballet

bootcamp was entirely ineffective for me (and pretty much everyone else). I mean, who can

retain information at that hour when you were in rehearsal until midnight the night before? My

friends and I persevered, though because when you are in these crazy, high intensity situations it

definitely brings people together. We would have snowball fights and try to make bonfires in the

park when we were drunk. I am confident that I used my time at a non-city college well. But by

the end of first semester I was calling my parents everyday basically telling them how terrible it

was. The idea of transferring to Pace was first brought up before winter break, but my parents

wanted me to wait until second semester to make any decisions. Well, I went home and for that

month of winter break, I actually started to miss school. But what I didn’t know was that I was

really missing my friends and the newly found freedom of college. Not the school. Not the

program. As soon as I returned, my mom and dad got that same call from me and we all decided

to see if I could transfer. That’s where you come in!

Turning down your offer to initially go to Pace is one of my biggest regrets because my

gut told me to go here in the first place. But I always had your number saved in my phone

because of how awesome you were through the process of me auditioning and choosing schools.

I felt comfortable enough to reach right back out and let you know that I had made a mistake. I

am so grateful to you and how you opened up to me to graciously. I had a friend in my class at

BW who auditioned to transfer for CCM at the end of our freshman year because she initially got

into their program, but she was rejected. Later down the line, I did summer stock with a student

from my class at CCM. He told me that the head of their program openly told his students he

would never accept a student that turned down his school in the first place. I can’t believe that
that is a mindset that someone has. Your understanding of my situation when I reached out, and

your willingness to help me will never be forgotten. Kids choosing where to go to college is

insane if you really think about it. I can’t believe our little 17 year old selves were put in a

position where we have to choose where we’ll spend the next 4 years of our life with so little

experience.

Once I got to Pace, everything kind of clicked. I thought my best friends were in Ohio,

but here I have friends that I love more than anything ever. Coming back to school in the city is

always the most relieving thing. I truly believe it to be my home. I began seriously writing

music sophomore year when I got here, and I am so passionate about that, I may want to explore

a career doing mainly that in my future. I have networked more than I have in my entire life.

The city feels like a giant hub that the rest of the country (in the arts community at least)

revolves around. There have been good times, bad times, love, heartbreak, and everything in

between. I am so grateful to be where I am and with everyone I’m with. Let’s keep on livin’ life

to the fullest!