Michael Schiefel studied jazz singing and composition at the University of the Arts in Berlin and has been giving concerts since the early 1990s. During his studies, the singer already began to experiment with the expressive possibilities of loop devices and other forms of electronics. Since then, he has been touring all over the world with his solo vocal programs, including as a guest of the Goethe-Institut. He also works in many bands – for example, in a duo with David Friedman, his own Istanbul Quartet, the Platypus Trio, the Wood & Steel Trio, and in Thärichens Tentett. He has given concerts at festivals around the world, including the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Jarasum Jazz Festival (Korea), JZ Festival (China), Earshot Jazz Festival (USA), Mediawave Festival (Hungary), Eunics Festival (Chile), and Jazzfest Berlin. Since 2001 he has been professor for jazz singing at the Franz Lizst University of Music in Weimar. In 2013 he won the Echo Jazz Prize as Singer of the Year (national). Most recently he released No Half Measures with Thärichens Tentett (Laika Records 2019) and Hollywood Songbook with the Wood & Steel Trio (Traumton 2018).
 
Michael Schiefel was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from June to November 2017.