A native of Chicago, senior editor Michael Silhavy recently returned to the Chicagoland area and GIA after spending twenty years working in Minnesota. From 1985-1990 he was an editorial assistant at GIA while also working at Saint Barbara Parish in Brookfield, IL. For three years he served as director of music for the cathedral and diocese of Duluth. He then became associate director of the worship office of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; in that capacity he served as diocesan director of music, director of the diocesan choir and co-director of the archdiocesan pilgrimage choir. During his time in the Twin Cities, he also served as music director at St. William Church in Fridley, MN. In 1999, he began work with the noted composer Richard Proulx, creating an annotated bibliography of all his work; the resulting Richard Proulx Collection is housed at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN. 

He received his training and degrees at De Paul University (music education), Loyola University (theology) and Saint John’s University (liturgical studies). Currently, he serves as music director at St. Mary Church in Riverside, IL. Like many of the GIA editors, he values the weekly experience of making music with a choir and congregation.