A little about who I am

Matt was born in Calgary, Alberta and was raised in Palm Springs, California. He was raised in a musical family that supported his love of music at an early age- he started piano lessons when he was five and trumpet lessons at 10. He graduated from Palm Springs High School in 2010 and attended VanderCook College of Music where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Education Cum Laude in 2014. After graduation, Matt worked as a musician on board cruises, but found himself longing to be in a classroom. In 2015, he became the band director at Desert Hot Springs High School, and in 2022, he became the band director at Palm Springs High School where he currently teaches. 
In 2016, Matt became the applied trumpet instructor at College of the Desert. In 2017, he attended the University of Redlands as a graduate assistant for trumpet performance, but finished his graduate degree at Berklee College of Music in 2020, earning a Master's of Music in Music Production. 
Matt educates by day and is an active musician and producer by night. His trumpet playing can be heard on a number of independent releases and he performs regularly as a freelance musician throughout Southern California. 

In response to the COVID-19 shutdown, Matt created the "Coachella Valley Virtual Concert Band" that produced weekly performance opportunities for students, teachers, and musicians alike. The popularity of this format resulted in the creation of Refracted Sol Productions, which is a music and video production company dedicated to bridging the gap between the visual and auditory needs of all musical groups and artists. In their short existence, Refracted Sol has produced videos used across Southern California and groups that sought much needed funding after losing the ability to perform publicly.