Michael Ball was born in Manchester in 1946.

As a Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust Scholar at the Royal College of Music, he studied with Herbert Howells, Humphrey Searle and John Lambert. In 1970 he was one of four students selected to take part in master classes with Nadia Boulanger on her visit to the RCM and in the same year was awarded all the major composition prizes of the College. Whilst he was there, he participated in master classes with Luciano Berio and György Ligeti.

Michael is active within all main areas of composition and his music is regularly played and broadcast, particularly in the United Kingdom and increasingly, world-wide.

Michael Ball lives in Ireland with his wife Miriam and young son, Alexander.