STU "The Piano Guy" - Michael Stoinski

Discovering Lake County, IL Podcast

Michael “Stu” Stoinski was born and raised in the Northern Chicago Suburbs and found his love for music at a very young age. As a child he would spend countless hours listening to music from his library of records & would hide his Fisher Price Tape Recorder under his pillow and listen to cassettes while falling asleep. The piano stole his heart at the age of 8 when he attended a musical where the production had a clear, see-through piano on stage. He begged his parents for lessons & would pretend to play the piano along with TV theme songs, using gloves laid on the floor as his imaginary keyboard. His parents finally started him on lessons the age of 9 and got a rent-to-own piano. He still has that same piano today. His lessons began with a classical music teacher named Georgia Cobb. She gave Stu his piano groundwork, but she was strict with her music style and refused to teach other than classical. Stu’s next teacher, Eric Sutz, taught him how to play songs he really enjoyed with more freedom. Stu took these more “free-style” lessons six years and truly credits Eric for creating the foundation for the musician he is today. Stu started playing in a garage band, went on to perform solo, & was an original member in the Wisconsin band, “Bella Cain”. He is most commonly a “one-man-show” but does occasionally play with a drummer or as a trio. Stu regularly plays at countless bars and restaurants, entertains for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and numerous other special events. He is known for his fun attitude, free-style playing and high energy. Of his many accomplishments Stu is most proud of his original music, he has funded and recorded two albums with a third hopefully in the future. Stu currently offers a large array of services, including but not limited to weddings, special events, composing and more! He plays mainly in-between Milwaukee and Chicago but has enjoyed traveling to further distances for events as well! From a cook-out in swim shorts, to a black tie wedding in a tuxedo, Stu can customize your musical experience do be exactly what you want for your event. For more information please feel free to contact him on the Contact page of this site!