Matt Smith, cello

Matthew Smith is a highly skilled cellist, celebrated for his expertise in chamber music and education. He has captivated audiences across the United States and Asia with his rich, emotive performances. As a Co-Artistic Director of Palaver Strings, a musician-led chamber orchestra, Matthew has achieved remarkable milestones. His ensemble has been invited to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., served as the ensemble-in-residence at the Boston Center for the Arts, and at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. He has also collaborated with his duo partner, Peipei Song, in performances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and at the Tianjin Conservatory in China. In addition to his performing career, Matthew is an accomplished educator. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Education for Palaver Strings, where he has spearheaded the development and design of the Palaver Music Center in Portland, Maine. Matthew has also led the course “Music and Civic Engagement” at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA for the past two years. His talents as a teaching artist have been recognized through his appointment as a Music Educator and Teaching Artist Fellow by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, as well as his role as a Graduate Assistant at The Boston Conservatory. Matthew has been fortunate enough to learn from some of the most renowned cellists in the world, including Colin Carr, Gautier Capuçon, Bernard Greenhouse, and Emmanuel Feldman, and studied chamber music with members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Brentano String Quartet. He received his Master of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he studied with Andrew Mark, and his Bachelor of Music degree from Arizona State University, where he studied with Thomas Landschoot.