About Me

Matt has enjoyed a career performing as one of West Michigan's first-call commercial, lead, and jazz trumpet players. He is involved with, and has performed with well over a dozen different professional groups across the state including the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, Truth in Jazz Orchestra, Evidence Jazz, Stevie Wonder Tribute Band, and Blue Water Kings. Matt developed a talent for music by learning to play the piano by ear at an early age. He started playing trumpet in middle school band by age 10 and discovered a natural ability that earned him the lead spot in the High School jazz band by 7th grade. Throughout his schooling years, he has been guided and educated by teachers such as Jim Wilpula, Tim Froncek, Dr. Rich Fanning, Robbie M. Smith, Dr. Dennis Horton, Dr. Neil Mueller, and has been able to perform with many world class musicians. He also was a live host of the local affiliate NPR radio program "Nightside Jazz & Blues" on CMU Public Radio for 4 years. Matt earned a degree in Music Performance from Central Michigan University and played lead under the direction of Robbie Smith with CMU's top big band "Jazz Lab 1." He also was the recipient of the Jack Saunders Jazz Scholarship in which Matt composed and premiered one of his first jazz compositions. After college, he embarked on a world wide tour as Musical Director and Lead Trumpeter onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships for several years.  Matt has also been regularly involved with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and other collaborations for professional educators and musicians. In early 2024, Matt was a featured guest playing alongside Wayne Bergeron during an artist series concert hosted by Mona Shores HS.  Matt currently resides in Muskegon Michigan with his wife and 3 cats, and continues to teach, perform, and write music.