Michaela Schuster was born in Furth/Bavaria, and had her education at the Mozarteum Salzburg, at the Hochschule der Kunste Berlin and in various masterclasses. She received scholarships from the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Richard Wagner Verband Bayreuth, the Hochschule der Kunste Berlin, and the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, and was sponsored by the Bonner Opernfreunde and received various awards.

In 1999–2002 she was a member of the ensemble of the Staatstheater Darmstadt, singing Charlotte in Werther, Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Santuzza, Amme in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Brangäne, and Ortrud. Guest engagements have taken her to the Semperoper Dresden, where she sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre, to the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, to the Nationaltheater Mannheim in the title rôle of Die Königin von Saba, to the Frankfurt, Opera, to the Staatstheater Stuttgart as Fricka in Das Rheingold as well as to the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin as Kundry.

She appeared as Ortrud at Norske Opera Oslo and as Sieglinde at the Teatro Real Madrid, and her wide-ranging concert repertoire has led her to appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, with Radio France in Paris, and to the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Liederhalle Stuttgart, among other engagements.