As a violinist, he has performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe in a full range of solo, chamber and orchestral works. He has appeared as a soloist with Chicago’s period-instrument orchestra, Baroque Band, as well as the Bensenville, Springfield, and Upper Arlington Symphony Orchestras. 

Beginning with chamber music competition awards from the National String Teachers Association and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and chamber studies at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Meadowmount School for Strings, chamber music has been a primary focus in his career. Since beginning his career in Chicago, he has performed in chamber music concerts with the Mendelssohn Chamber Arts Series, International Chamber Artists, the Advent Chamber Players, and most recently with the Symphony Sounds String Quartet (2012).

He has assumed principal positions in several regional orchestras and is currently playing with the Rockford and South Bend Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, he has performed with the Columbus, Elgin, Chicago Sinfonietta, New Philharmonic, Illinois Philharmonic, Northwest Indiana, Elmhurst, Fox Valley, Green Bay, and Illinois Symphony Orchestras. He has enjoyed working with festival ensembles such as the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, Green Lake Festival Orchestra and the Blue Lake Festival (Faculty) Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble.

As a period instrumentalist, Matt acquired his interested of period baroque performance while studying with Stanley Ritchie at Indiana University and Mary Springfels of the Newberry Consort. He is a core member of New Comma Baroque and Baroque Band serving as concertmaster for a 2 year session, and has performed with the Callipygian Players, the Rockford Bach Ensemble, and the Chicago Opera Theatre. Similarly, he has participated in the U.S. premiere of La Buona Figola (The Good Servant Girl), a comic opera by Niccolo Piccini.

His interest in contemporary music is mirrored by his performances in Accessible Contemporary Musicians, the Palomar Ensemble, Aperiodic, and by sponsoring new composers as Music Director of the Renovo String Orchestra.

As a violin teacher, Matt has given guest lectures and recitals in both modern and period stylistic practices at the Columbia College of Chicago and Lake Forest College. He also started the string educational programs at the Westerville (Ohio) Strings Academy and helped to start the Little Crickets Strings Program at the McGaw YMCA in Evanston.

Matt received a master’s of music degree in violin performance from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in music from Indiana University in Bloomington.  He is the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships and scholarships at the local, state and national levels.  Principal teachers have included Gerardo Ribeiro, Ilya Kaler, Davis Brooks and Anna Svirsky.  His coaches have included Mathias Tacke, DaXun Zhang, David Campbell, Ik-Hwan Bae, and Ann Setzer.