| Matthew Cannon Artist's Website >> The arts have been in Matthew’s life ever since he can remember. As a young child he took up piano lessons and has never looked back. He excelled in his playing and took up the trumpet at age 13. Matthew had wanted to play the timpani, but the band director said, "There are too many kids who want to play drums. Play the trumpet!" His trumpeteering would be short lived, however, due to three separate stints with orthodonture. Armed with his piano skills he found his way to the back of the band at Baton Rouge High School playing mallet percussion. It was there the love affair began. Matthew took to mallets like a fish to water and shortly thereafter landed a contracted position as a percussionist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra at the age of 18. He maintained this position through his undergraduate studies in Percussion Performance at Louisiana State University under the instruction of Dr. John Raush. In February 2000, Matthew concluded his tenure at LSU with a performance of Keiko Abe’s Prism Rhapsody for Marimba and Orchestra–the first percussionist to be selected winner of the Concerto Competition in ten years. In May of that year, Matthew tore up his southern roots for the glory of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to study with the venerable Jack Van Geem. It was here that Matthew met the members of Cotton Candy and became their marimbist/keyboardist. It was also during these years at the Conservatory that he met Alexis Alrich, a composer. She expressed an interest to Matthew in collaborating on a marimba concerto. Flash forward three years, and the concerto has been completed and two movements performed with the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra to much acclaim. Matthew is looking forward to performing this concerto with more Bay Area orchestras and is excited about having contributed to the marimba literature. Presently, Mr. Cannon is recording another project with Cotton Candy, discovering his painting abilities and seeking studio work playing one of his many instruments (marimba, piano, harmonium, celeste, organ). O1C Performances: Bestiary: Works by Elinor Armer |
