Viola with Matthew G.

Matthew is a native of sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. He started his violin studies a very young age under the guidance of Gabriel Gruber and William Magers, He is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, earning a degree in both violin and viola performance. Before moving to Washington, DC he played 10 seasons/years as a violist with the Phoenix Symphony, performing weekly with world-class soloists and conductors. Matthew has also performed with many leading orchestras such as the New World Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Marin Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and as principal violist of SF Lyric Opera and Isny im Allgäu Opera (Germany). Matthew currently performs with leading Washington area ensembles including the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Opera Nova, and is principal violist of the Salisbury Symphony in Maryland. Mr. Gordon has performed in masterclasses for Isaac Stern, Glenn Dicterow, Gil Shaham, Samuel Thaviu, Joseph de Pasquale, and for the Juilliard, St. Lawrence, Orion and Kronos string quartets. Matthew has recently performed/toured with Lindsey Stirling/Evanescence, Il Volo, and Hanson and has previously had the honor to share the stage with Donna Summer, STYX, Smokey Robinson, Patti LuPone, Edina Menzel, Eartha Kitt, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G, Train, Indigo Girls, and Tony Bennett. Notable career performances: Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lang Lang, Andre Watts, Frederica von Stade, Christoph Eschenbach, John Williams, M.T.T. and chamber music performances with Gil Shaham. Matthew's most influential teachers include Dr. William Magers, Leonid Gesin, Samuel Thaviu, Anne Crowden, Robert Mann, Patrick Rafferty, and with brief studies with famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. Matthew performs on a unique and prodigiously large 18 inch Brothers Amati (Blaurock) viola of 1592, a violin by Johann Michael Simman of 1757 and plays on bows made by François Voirin and modern maker Alexandr Hendruk.