Metropolis Ensemble | Groanbox: Matthew Slotkin

PERFORMERS

Matthew Slotkin
guitar

Having received acclaim as a performer, teacher, and scholar, Matthew Slotkin is one of the most prominent young guitarists in the United States. Appearing in leading venues throughout North America and Europe, he has achieved success in solo performance, chamber music, and as a soloist with orchestra. With a unique commitment to both the composition and promulgation of new works for the guitar, as well as to meticulous historical performance practice, Slotkin ranks among a singular brand of innovative and engaging artists.

Slotkin has appeared in concert venues throughout North America and Europe, including the Alexandria Guitar Festival, the UNC-Greensboro New Music Festival for Guitar and Saxophone, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival, the Chautauqua Institution, and the DuMaurier Jazz Festival in Toronto, Ontario. Centaur Records released his solo CD, Twentieth Century Music for Guitar, in late 2003. American Record Guide praised Slotkin for his "musical sensitivity and technical control," and for giving "strong readings of this appealing music." Recent commissions include compositions by John Anthony Lennon, George Daravelis, John Orfe, and Charles Stolte, the latter of which was premiered by Duo Montagnard (with Joseph Murphy, saxophone) at the 2006 World Saxophone Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Recent performances include a series of concerts in Athens, Greece in November 2006, a tour of the United Kingdom in November 2007, and a tour of the Midwestern U.S. in March and October of 2008. Upcoming performances in 2009 include tours of New Zealand and Australia with the Duo Montagnard, a premiere performance of a guitar-saxophone duo by John Anthony Lennon in Bangkok, Thailand, chamber music performances in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and North Carolina, and a performance of Manuel Ponce's Concierto del Sur with the Bloomsburg Chamber Orchestra.

Matthew Slotkin directs the guitar programs at Mansfield University and Bloomsburg University. He has given masterclasses at numerous institutions including the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, the University of Saskatchewan, Syracuse University, the Alexandria Guitar Festival, the UNC-Greensboro New Music Festival for Guitar and Saxophone, and the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival. He has also taught guitar and chamber music at the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, and classical and jazz guitar at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, NY, Alfred University in Alfred, NY, and in the Eastman School of Music's Community Education Division. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Music, and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied guitar with Nicholas Goluses and historical performance practice with Paul O'Dette.

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