Matt received his Masters degree in Music Composition from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester, England studying with highly-acclaimed composers Adam Gorb, Paul Patterson, Gary Carpenter, Andy Scott, and Tim Garland in 2014. During his time abroad, Matt focused on developing his compositional style by writing for a variety of different ensembles with the hope to discover how to best write music for today's diverse 21st century audience.  His music was performed and recorded by the Meridian Ensemble, English National Ballet, Belgian soprano Sarah Helena Foubert, Australian saxophonist Erin Royer, and the Columbian contemporary music ensemble Cénit Ensamble.

In addition to his classical/jazz crossover compositions, Matt also enjoys writing music for film. His music was featured in two short films at a Film Festival in Prague, Czech Republic and has served as the composer for two full-length documentary films entitled "Positively Beautiful” and “Written On Water.”

Currently, Matt teaches band at Rosemount Middle School in Rosemount, Minnesota.  He holds a deep passion for music education and works tirelessly to develop the skills of student musicians through engaging experiences in the classroom.  This upcoming year will mark Matt's 18th year as a professional music educator.  Throughout his career as an educator, Matt has taught thousands of students throughout Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and South Dakota in the areas of instrumental, vocal, and general music.  Under his leadership, Matt has guided and challenged students in his own musical ensembles to reach high levels of quality and success.  He has created award-winning shows for students in Marching Band and Indoor Drumline ensembles.

When Matt is not composing or teaching, Matt searches for every opportunity to perform as an accomplished musician on piano and percussion. He currently plays piano for the Northstar Big Band and is the on-call piano sub for both the Genesis Jazz Orchestra and the Bend In The River Big Band, all based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul community. Matt also performs on percussion with the Encore Wind Ensemble, a professional concert band made up of the top musicians in the Minneapolis/St. Paul community.  Matt has also performed as a percussionist with the Minneapolis Civic Symphony, Bloomington Symphony, Fairey Brass Band (Cheshire, UK), and Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps.  He studied percussion with Fernando Meza and Steve Yeager while pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in both Music Education and Percussion Performance from the University of Minnesota in 2008.