ABOUT

A bearded man in formal attire sitting on a bench holding a violin and bow, looking surprised. Sitting next to the man is a small, stuffed bear.

Full Bio:

Violinist and violist Matt Albert is the Chair of Chamber Music at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan. He previously served as the Director of Chamber Music and SYZYGY at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, and he was a founding member of Eighth Blackbird, with whom he received numerous awards, including first prizes at the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Coleman, and Fischoff Competitions, and three Grammy awards for their recordings on Cedille Records. He serves as one of the concertmasters for Nu Deco Ensemble and regularly plays as the violist with Alarm Will Sound. Previous collaborations include work with Seraphic Fire, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Wilco, and his orchestral playing has included appearances with the Shreveport Symphony (as Concertmaster), the Baltimore Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra (as Associate Concertmaster), and a tenured position as Principal Second Violin of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. He has served as a mentor for Evolution: Classical and Evolution: Chamber at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Nick Photinos’s 1:2:1 online workshop. Other leadership roles include three years as the Artistic Director of the M-Prize International Chamber Arts Competition and three years as the Artistic Director of the Music in the Mountains Conservatory in Durango, Colorado. Matt holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University School of Music.

Short Bio:

Violinist and violist Matt Albert is the Chair of Chamber Music at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan. He previously served as the Director of Chamber Music and SYZYGY at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University. He was a founding member of Eighth Blackbird, with whom he received numerous awards, including first prizes at the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Coleman, and Fischoff Competitions, and three Grammy awards for their recordings on Cedille Records. He serves as one of the concertmasters for Nu Deco Ensemble and regularly plays as the violist with Alarm Will Sound. Previous collaborations include work with Seraphic Fire, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Wilco, the Shreveport Symphony (as Concertmaster), the Baltimore Symphony, and the Sarasota Orchestra (as Associate Concertmaster). In the summers he mentors for Evolution: Classical and Evolution: Chamber at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and he plays principal second violin for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

About Me:

I’m Matt, and I’m a violinist/violist who specializes in new chamber music. If you’re new to this world, welcome! I’ll explain a little bit about what I do here.

I’m fortunate to be the Chair of Chamber Music at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan. That means I collaborate with faculty, staff, and students to organize 60+  groups of student classical musicians – trios, quartets, quintets, etc. – that are playing together without a conductor. 

New chamber music, to me, means small ensemble pieces being written by living composers of all different identities. I was so lucky to be one of the founding members of Eighth Blackbird, and now I’m the concertmaster for Nu Deco Ensemble and a regular violist with Alarm Will Sound. After many years of focusing on my teaching and administrating, I’m thrilled to be commissioning again, hiring composers to write pieces for me and colleagues to perform together. You can find videos of our performances here, and links for sheet music so you can experience these new works yourself.

And I’m queer – I’m a white cisgender gay man who practices solo ethical non-monogamy. My identity shapes how I move through the world, and I’m interested in how others’ identities do the same for them, and how I can celebrate those identities through my art. I hope this site is a place to share stories, connect with each other, and celebrate our learnings along the way.