Matthew Richmond has performed, composed, recorded, and taught in an extensive variety of styles and settings, from rock, jazz, and world music bands to symphony orchestras, musical theater, and drum and bugle corps.
Currently, Matthew appears most frequently with Like Mind Trio (original jazz), and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed and/or recorded with stephaniesĭd, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Steve Reich, Gordon Stout, the Percussive Arts Society 50th Anniversary Marimba Orchestra, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Banda Movimento, Eta Carina, Jazz Composers Forum, Chuck Lichtenberger Group, Klarcnova, Asheville Jazz Orchestra, Figeater, Disproof, Andy Lehman, Alien Music Club, Spies Among Us, Eroteme, Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Mountains, Asheville Choral Society, Asheville Lyric Opera, Lake Junaluska Singers, Charleston Symphony, Catskill Symphony, Transylvania Choral Society, Cornell Chorale, Fingerlakes Chorale, Greater Spartanburg Philharmonic, Ithaca Brass, Bill Perkins Quartet, Nuance, Patrick Boland, Marc Yaxley, Ruby Slippers, The Secret B-sides, Kat Williams, Holiday Childress, The Goodies, Carter Butler, Full Stop, Alexis Wax, Floyd Eats Mayberry, and many more. (Did you really just read all that?)
Matthew loves musical theater, and has played local and/or regional productions of Avenue Q, Hairspray, The Producers, Chicago, West Side Story, MILF: the Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Honky Tonk Angels, Pippin, Jane Eyre, Cabaret, Porgy and Bess, Phantom, Camelot, Gypsy, La Cage aux Folles, Parade, Damn Yankess, Peter Pan, Bat Boy, Ragtime, and others.
As a composer, Matthew has created works for string orchestra, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, chorus, chamber ensembles, electronics, and instrumental soloists. He composed and directed music for Untitled (as of yet), a dance collaboration with Norte Marr, Julia K. Gleich, and Ann Dunn; Echo, a modern ballet piece by the Asheville Ballet; Gilgamesh, a dance-drama by Black Swan Theatre and the Asheville Ballet; and Blind Desire, an original play by The Road Company. In 2010 he composed, recorded, produced, and (with a little help from his friends) performed the musical score for the feature film Flight of the Cardinal (Gaston Pictures). Many of his compositions are published by MPI (Asbury Park, NJ).
Matthew’s teaching experience ranges from 2nd grade to university. He currently teaches percussion, composition, jazz, and music theory at UNC-Asheville. He has directed percussion programs at high schools, instructed marching percussion at the high school, college, and drum and bugle corps levels, and taught many clinics, camps, and masterclasses.
Matthew is a member of the Composition Contest Committee of the Percussive Arts Society. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from East Tennessee State University, and a Master’s in Percussion Performance and Composition from Ithaca College.