It’s been such a long journey, but I am now done with my studies at Manhattan School of Music. I am officially a Master of Music in Jazz Piano as of this May. It’s an honor to have met and taken classes with so many jazz greats in New York City. And, I am looking forward to playing and teaching even more this summer.
At the end of May, I’ll play two gigs (a fundraiser and a club date) in San Diego, California with a great bassist and drummer from there… and this summer, I’ll also continue teaching music to children with autism, at Applied Behavioral Learning Services in Newton, MA.
It’s been exciting living in Boston again, and it feels great to be a graduate, but there have been so many more highlights this spring besides my graduation.
In April, I opened for Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Shawn Colvin and others at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for an Autism Speaks fundraiser called “Light Up the Blues”. I played my song “We Are Alive” with Crosby, Stills and Nash’s backing band. It was incredible to share a stage with all of these music legends (and acting legends; Jack Black hosted). They are all wonderful people. And I saw the theater and downtown Hollywood for the first time; the Pantages is a beautiful Art Deco theater that actually hosted the Oscars for ten years.
My Master’s degree recital at Manhattan School of Music was on April 10; you can view a video from that recital here.
And the day after my college graduation, I performed in Corning, New York at the Corning Museum of Glass with bassist (and fellow Manhattan School of Music alumnus) Tom Berkmann and drummer Francisco Mela (who performs with McCoy Tyner and Joe Lovano regularly). This was my first time playing with Mela and I’m looking forward to future performances.
It’s been a very busy spring, but I’m looking forward to spending time with friends and family again this June. And I hope to see all of you again sometime this summer.
-Matt
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.