Michael Forster (born 1977 in Bayreuth) has been Professor of Elementary Music Education at the University of Music Würzburg since October 2018. His musical education began at the vocational school for music in Sulzbach-Rosenberg (1994-1996), followed by a degree in Catholic Church Music at the Meistersinger Conservatory in Nuremberg (1996-2001). He then studied elementary music education with Prof. Vroni Priesner at the University of Music in Nuremberg (2001-2005). This was followed by a two-year postgraduate course in music education (2005-2007) and the university course "Elementary Music and Movement Education" at the renowned Orff Institute of the Mozarteum University Salzburg (2008-2009).

He gained his extensive practical experience in the field of elementary music education through many years of work at the Bamberg Municipal Music School (2002-2017). As a member of the music school's management team, he was largely responsible for developing and maintaining collaborations with daycare centers and schools. His diverse tasks included the conception and implementation of innovative musical offerings for preschool and primary school children, the direction of children's choirs, the organization of music theater projects and the implementation of pioneering music education formats such as "Buenos dias, Bolero" in collaboration with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

In an academic context, he was an academic advisor in the Elementary Music Education degree programme at the University of Music Nuremberg (2006-2018) and has also held teaching positions at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg, the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg and the Mozarteum Salzburg.

Together with Prof. Doris Hamann, he runs the training series for educators in Nuremberg as part of the MUBIKIN and Wachsen mit Musik initiatives. Since October 2014, he has been responsible for the management of the music education certificate program in close cooperation with the Verband Bayerischer Sing- und Musikschulen e. V. He regularly contributes his expertise to specialist events and further education formats, for example at the Franconian Singers' Association, the Northern Bavarian Music Association, the Tonkünstlerverband and the Orff-Schulwerk-Gesellschaft.

His commitment is reflected in his active involvement in various specialist networks, including the Elementary Music Education Working Group (deputy speaker since 2023), the Orff-Schulwerk-Gesellschaft Deutschland e. V., the Tonkünstlerverband Bayern e. V. and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musikgeragogik e. V.