Matthew Strauss
Matthew Strauss has been applauded throughout the United States as an energetic percussionist with a diverse musical background. In addition to his positions as percussionist with the Houston Symphony and timpanist of the Bard Festival Orchestra, Mr. Strauss performed as a member of the percussion section in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra throughout the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. He also has performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, and Harrisburg Symphony. Other orchestral appearances include concerts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, New York Pops, Naples (FL) Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Key West Symphony, Springfield (MA) Symphony, Albany Symphony Orchestra and Opera Delaware. Recent Solo appearances include performances with the New Hampshire Music Festival, Reading Symphony Orchestra and Delaware Symphony Orchestra. The Wilmington News Journal praised Mr. Strauss as having "displayed excellent control and versatility". An active chamber musician, he has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and has participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's contemporary chamber series, Music Now, under the batons of Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In addition, Mr. Strauss is a founding member of the Battery Four Percussion Group, a dynamic ensemble known for crossing musical genres and premiering new works.
Mr. Strauss received his bachelor's degree in Percussion Performance from the Juilliard School and his master's degree in performance from the Esther Boyer College of Music at Temple University. He is an alumnus of both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and has participated in the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland and the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Strauss taught percussion performance at the Mason Gross School of Music at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. He is the founder of the percussion department at the Children's Orchestra Society in Manhassett, NY and has given master classes at the Juilliard Percussion Seminar, Northwestern University, DePaul University, and the Usdan Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Strauss is an active Artist/Educator for Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments.