Matthew Kennedy is an emerging, New England-based composer of engaging solo, chamber, and orchestral music that has been performed across North America and Europe. Matthew’s work has received critical acclaim including honors and commissions from ASCAP, BMI, Society of Composers Inc, Hartford Opera Theater, Dynamic Music Festival at New York University, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, bassist Robert Black, Performance 20/20 Ensemble, La’Ventus Quartet, Foot-in-the-Door, as well as residencies at the Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology’s Hill House Artist Residency (MI), Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival (NY), Horned Dorset Artist Colony, Soaring Gardens Artist Retreat, and the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities. Recent activities include performances at University of South Florida New Music Festival, Northwestern University New Music Conference, North American Saxophone Alliance International Conference, SCI Regional Conferences, University of South Florida New Music Festival, and a presentation on graphic notation for junior high school students, in collaboration with Glen Adsit and Michael Colgrass, at the 2015 Chicago Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Matthew’s primary teachers have included Robert Carl, Michael Schelle, Larry Alan Smith, Elizabeth Brown, and Manuel Sosa. He holds degrees from The Hartt School (DMA), Butler University (MM), and Anderson University (BA). His music is self-published and licensed through ASCAP. Matthew is currently on faculty in the Creative Studies Department at The Hartt School where he teaches pre-college theory and composition, and teaches general music classes with the Hartford Public School System. He and his wife, studio artist Erin Kennedy currently reside in Newington, CT with their daughter two daughters, Ivy and Amelia.
