American composer/arranger Matt Shervey (b. 1986) works tediously to create exciting and fresh new music that carefully merge the jazz and classical worlds with one another.
Most recently, Matt received his Masters degree in Music Composition from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester, England studying with highly-acclaimed composers Adam Gorb, Paul Patterson, Gary Carpenter, Andy Scott, and Tim Garland. During his time abroad, Matt focused on developing his compositional style by writing for a variety of different ensembles with the hope to discover how to best write music for today's diverse 21st century audience. In 2014, his music was performed and recorded by the Meridian Ensemble, English National Ballet, Belgian soprano Sarah Helena Foubert, and Australian saxophonist Erin Royer.
In addition to his classical/jazz crossover compositions, Matt also enjoys writing music for film. His music was featured in two short films at a Film Festival in Prague, Czech Republic in December 2013 and has recently served as the composer for a full-length documentary film entitled "Positively Beautiful." Future projects include work with filmmaker Matthew Lucas on providing music for both a short and feature-length film.
Currently, Matt teaches general music at Parkview Elementary in Rosemount, Minnesota. He holds a deep passion for music education and works tirelessly to develop the skills of student musicians through engaging experiences in the classroom. This upcoming year will mark Matt's 13th year as a professional music educator. Throughout his career as an educator, Matt has taught thousands of students throughout Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and South Dakota in the areas of instrumental, vocal, and general music. Under his leadership, Matt has guided and challenged students in his own musical ensembles to reach high levels of quality and success. He has created award-winning shows for his students in Marching Band and Indoor Drumline ensembles, and has recently completed a commission as a music arranger for Anoka High School in Anoka, Minnesota.
When Matt is not composing or teaching, Matt searches for every opportunity to perform as an accomplished musician on piano and percussion. He currently is the on call piano sub for Genesis Jazz Orchestra and Bend In The River Big Band based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul community. During his residence in England, Matt performed concerts as the pianist with the Royal Northern College of Music Jazz Collective and the Wilmslow Big Band. Matt has also performed as a percussionist with the Minneapolis Civic Symphony, Bloomington Symphony, Fairey Brass Band (Cheshire, UK), and Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps. He studied percussion with Fernando Meza and Steve Yeager while pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in both Music Education and Percussion Performance from the University of Minnesota in 2008. Click on the video below to see some quick highlights of Matt's past solo percussion recitals: