RANGELEY — An evening of original compositions by award-winning piano soloist and composer Cody Michaels will be presented at the Church of the Good Shepherd July 27 at 7 p.m. For Michaels “the piano is a way to connect with the mystery of creation and every song is a prayer.”

Born in October of 1960, Michaels grew up in southeastern New Hampshire. His jazz pianist father introduced him to the piano at the age of three. Michaels’s wide musical tastes, as well as his love of nature, literature and people, are central to his art. Besides classical and jazz, he also enjoys folk, blues, rock, contemporary instrumental, popular, and world music.

At the University of New Hampshire, Michaels studied environmental science and became an avid mountaineer. In 1988, he returned to New Hampshire to become an Appalachian Trail caretaker in the White Mountains, and then in the Rangeley Region.

Through it all, Michaels continuously played the piano as “an emotional, spiritual outlet.” He first appeared in public while in Telluride, Colo., warming up crowds before movies at the Nugget Theater. He occasionally played for restaurants and clubs in the various places he was stationed along the Appalachian Trail, with the Forest Service, and while in Northampton.

It was during a long walk on the Appalachian Trail in 1997 that Michaels vowed to devote the remainder of his life to music. He began to practice more extensive- ly, and made numerous appearances for restaurants, resorts, and clubs in New England, western North Carolina, Colorado and Leipzig, Germany.

Upon settling in New Hampshire’s White Mountains in 2001, Michaels launched a career as a concert artist and released his debut CD of original piano solos, “A Creation Prayer,” to high praise. Three more critically acclaimed CDs have followed: “Primum Non Nocere” (2004), “Autumn Suite” (2007) and “Winter Suite” (November 2009).

Michaels’s repertoire now includes more than 60 original works for solo piano, along with a handful of interpretations such as “Over The Rainbow” and “Carol of The Bells.” In the late fall of 2005, he relocated to the open spaces of Vermont’s “Northeast Kingdom.” His concerts are in steadily increasing demand in the northeast U.S.A. and beyond.

The evening sponsored by the Rangeley Friends of the Arts will demonstrate Michaels’s creativity as a composer and will be a delight for the audience, said a spokesperson for the event.

Tickets ($15) are available at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce 864-5364.