Matthew Richmond is a percussionist, composer, and educator currently based in Asheville, North Carolina.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from East Tennessee State University, and a Master’s in Percussion Performance and Composition from Ithaca College.  His primary teachers include Gordon Stout and Rande Sanderbeck in percussion, and Greg Woodward, Gordon Stout, and Dana Wilson in composition.

Matthew has performed with a long list of ensembles and soloists in classical, jazz, rock, theater, drum corps, and world music.  He has appeared as a guest marimba soloist with the ETSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Johnson City Symphony, and premiered Ukrainian Rhapsody for marimba and wind ensemble by Taras Nahirniak.  He performs frequently with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony of the Mountains.  As vibist, percussionist, and co-composer with the Rande Sanderbeck Quartet, Matthew has recorded masterclass CD’s for Jazz Player and Saxophone Journal magazines.  After co-leading The Din, a large avant-garde ensemble, he performed modern small-group jazz as leader of Point B and the Richmond/Simmerman Duo, as well as appearing with Klarcnova, Anne Coombs, the Bill Perkins Quartet, Eta Carina, Chuck Lichtenberger, the Stephanie Morgan Quintet, and others.  He currently travels, performs, and records as a member of the pop-noir band Stephanie’s Id.

As an educator, Matthew has been active in various capacities for over fifteen years.  He has directed concert, pop, and world percussion ensembles at the high school and college levels.  He served as pit arranger and instructor for the ETSU percussion section, both marching band and indoor percussion, from 1991-97, during which time the ensemble performed at four Percussive Arts Society International Conventions.  He was a music instructor for the 1999 Rochester Patriots winter percussion, and from 1999 to 2005 he directed the percussion program at A. C. Reynolds High School.  He is currently the percussion instructor at UNCA, and also teaches private students in percussion, music theory, and composition.

Matthew’s compositions include works for string orchestra, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, chamber ensembles, electronics, and instrumental soloists.   He has composed commissioned works for tympanist Jaimie Bernstein and the Rochester Patriots Drum and Bugle Corps Percussion Ensemble.  His music was performed by the East Tennessee State University Marching Percussion Ensemble at BOA Grand Nationals in 1995 and PASIC in 1996.  A performance of his music at PASIC 2001 earned ETSU the Best Pit award.  He composed and directed incidental music for Blind Desire, an original play by The Road Company theater group.  His Concerto for Vibraphone was premiered in spring 2002 by the ETSU Percussion Ensemble.  Many of his compositions are publishedvworldwide by Studio 4 Music.

The latest projects in Matthew’s life include nurturing his long- standing love of recording (including co-producing and mixing 2 Stephanie’s Id albums) and nurturing his new baby, Isaac Alan “T-mo” Richmond.