Biografia
Michael Matthews, born August 28, 1950, is a Canadian composer and photographer. He completed a Ph.D. in composition at North Texas State University in 1985. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and works in Victoria, British Columbia. Matthews' abstract photographs have been exhibited in Germany and the US. Canadian publisher At Bay Press has published Gibbous Moon, a book of photography and poetry created in collaboration with poet Dennis Cooley. == Early life == Michael Matthews was born in Gander, Newfoundland in 1950. At that time his father John Matthews was working for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as a ground operations manager. Matthews was still an infant when his family moved to Miami, Florida, where his father took a job with Pan Am. Growing up, Matthews lived in Miami, Kingston, Jamaica, Managua Nicaragua, Port of Spain and Piarco, Trinidad, and Karachi, Pakistan, where he attended and graduated from the Karachi American School (KAS). A year at Purdue University studying aeronautical engineering followed, and then a move to Los Angeles, where he changed his focus to music. After earning his Ph.D. in composition and conducting, Matthews took a nine-month teaching appointment in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba. This was followed by two years of teaching at Mokwon University in Taejon, Korea, and then a return to Canada to take up a tenure-track faculty position as head of the Composition Department at the University of Manitoba School of Music (currently the Desautels Faculty of Music). == Education == His composition teachers included Larry Austin at the University of North Texas College of Music (formerly North Texas State University), Ben Glovinsky at California State University Sacramento and Aurelio de la Vega at California State University Northridge. == Career == From 1985 to 2012, Matthews was head of the composition department at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg; he is now a professor emeritus there. Matthews is a conductor and a founder and artistic director of the GroundSwell new music series in Winnipeg. From 2002 to 2004 he was Composer-in-Residence with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. Matthews is a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, of the Canadian League of Composers and an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre. == Selected Compositions == Source: Matthews' works are published by the Canadian Music Centre and by Universal Edition. it is raining gently with light for cl/b.cl.vn.pf. Commissioned by GroundSwell and Madeline Hildebrand (2021) till our bodies into the night slip for cl/b.cl.vc.pf. Commissioned by SOLI Chamber Ensemble (2020) perishable light for viola/viola d'amore and percussion. Commissioned by Park Sounds (2019) Septet for fl.ob.cl/b.cl.sax.vn.vc.pf. Commissioned by ensemble mosaik (2016) Sólo queda el desierto for soprano and chamber orchestra. Commissioned by the Montreal Chamber Orchestra (2014) and the sky caught f
