International
Chamber Artists

Currently living in Lake Forest, Illinois, Matthew Harvell has served as a bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra for the past twelve years (his frequent trips to Richmond over the past three years have now earned him a dual citizenship between the two states). Prior to this, he was a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the American Sinfonietta, and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

 

As a freelance bassoonist, Matthew has recently found himself on stage with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, and the Lake Forest Symphony, and also performs with the Chicago Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Roanoke Symphony, and the Toledo Symphony. In addition, he has performed three solo recitals at the International Double Reed Society conventions and has been a regular recitalist in the mid-Atlantic for the past eight years.

 

Mr. Harvell has given masterclasses at Northern Arizona University, West Virginia University, North Carolina School for the Arts, Old Dominion University, and was an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond. Currently he serves on the faculty of the Lake Forest College. He is also a regular adjunct member of the bassoon group, "Dark In the Song," which has recently premiered a new work by the composer Amy Beth Kirsten with whom he has two open commissions waiting to be finished and performed.

 

Matthew is a student of the late Norman Herzberg, Richard Beene, David Sogg, and John Wetherill and has coached extensively with Christopher Millard, Danielle Damiano, and Judith LeClair. Matthew performs exclusively on Rudolf Walter bassoons.

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"The work of chamber music is mostly arriving, as an ensemble, at a shared vision of the written music. The rest of it is communicating that shared vision to the audience. The art of chamber music is making the work so transparent to the audience that they become a part of that vision, feeling as though they have been there from the beginning."

Matthew Harvell, bassoon