Biography

Matthew Ricketts’ music moves from extremes of presence and absence, from clamor to quietude, at once reticent and flamboyant. It has been noted for its “effervescent and at times prickly sounds” and “hypnotically churning exploration of melody” (ICareIfYouListen) as well as its “tart harmonies and perky sputterings” (The New York Times). He is a 2020 Gaudeamus Award finalist and a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow.

His works have been performed internationally by the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, JACK Quartet, Mivos Quartet, the Fromm Players, Flux Quartet, Quatuor Bozzini, the Chiara String Quartet, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Talea Ensemble, etc. Matthew was Composer-Collaborator-In-Residence at East Carolina University from 2016-2018. In 2018 Ricketts’ multilingual opera Chaakapesh: The Trickster’s Quest opened the OSM’s 84th season to great critical acclaim.

Matthew is the recipient of fellowships from Civitella Ranieri (2020/2021), MacDowell (2019), the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival (2017), in addition to the 2016 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Prize, the 2016 Jacob Druckman Prize (Aspen Music Festival), the 2015 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award and eight prizes in the SOCAN Foundation’s Awards for Young Composers. Matthew holds degrees in music composition and theory from McGill University and Columbia University, where he was a Core Lecturer 2017-2020.