Matthew Harris has had orchestral works performed by the Minnesota, Houston, Florida, Jacksonville, Chattanooga, Spokane and Modesto Symphony orchestras; chamber works by the Lark Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble and League-ISCM; and vocal works by Sheryl Studer and Faith Esham.
Harris's highly popular choral works have been commissioned or premiered by leading choruses such as the Dale Warland Singers, Phoenix Bach Choir, Los Angeles Chamber Singers, Western Wind, and Cantori New York, and sung by countless school and community choirs across America. His A Child's Christmas in Wales, a cantata for chorus and orchestra commissioned by Harmonium, is performed throughout the US and the UK.
The National Endowment for the Arts twice awarded him a Composer Fellowship; other fellowships and grants have come from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Tanglewood, Meet The Composer, MacDowell, and Yaddo. Composition awards he has won include those from the Chautauqua Chamber Singers, Georges Enesco Foundation, Society for New Music, National Association of Composers, Musicians Accord, Diva Complex, Taubman Institute, ASCAP and BMI.
G. Schirmer and C. F. Peters publish his music, and Chandos, Albany, Cedille, MSR Classics and Opus One represent him on disc.
Harris studied at The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and Harvard University. He has taught at Fordham University and Kingsborough College (CUNY) and in 1988 founded Harris Musiciology. He lives and works in New York City.
