ABOUT ME

Dr. Matthew McConnell (b. 1980) holds a B.A. degree in Music from Bennington College, a M.M. degree in Musical Composition with Distinction in Performance (and Academic Honors) from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from the same institution. His instructors have included Stephen Siegel, Allen Shawn, John Heiss, and Hollywood composer Erik Lundborg (composition), Dr. Dwight Killam (organ), Daniel Pinkham (organ & harpsichord), Ann Cain, Jane Jenkins, and John Van Buskirk (piano), and Lee Hyla (orchestration). He is a member of ASCAP and the American Guild of Organists.

 

Dr. Matt is the Minister of Music at the First Baptist Church of North Adams, and was a Teaching Fellow at the New England Conservatory of Music. He also co-founded the "original" Toyland Band, a Boston-based, award-winning instrumental ensemble that performed arrangements of classical and popular music for children on toy instruments.

 

In addition to composition, piano, organ, orchestration, keyboard harmony, and music theory, Dr. Matt--a Joseph Schillinger scholar--teaches The Schillinger System of Musical Composition to students in Berkshire County. He was also a professional Composer Mentor with Music-COMP (formerly the Vermont MIDI Project), and the Director of Choral Instruction at St. Stanislaus-Kostka Private School in Adams, MA. His choral music publisher is E.C. Schirmer, and he is a frequent contributor to the Lorenz organ periodicals.