own works with the group. They, along with many other community orchestras around Arizona, have premiered seven orchestral works before he graduated, including the Prescott Chamber Orchestra, the Prescott POPS Orchestra, the Yavapai College Symphony Orchestra, and the West Valley Youth Orchestra, several of which have had Mathew at the podium.
Lanning's Compositions have been praised highly by well-known composers and professional musicians, as well as by audiences. He attended the Boston Conservatory of Music High School Composition Intensive in 2016 and the Curtis Institute of Music Young Artist Summer Program in 2019. He had opportunities to write for, premiere works with, and workshop with groups such as the Worcester Chamber Music Society, Transient Canvas, and the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds. His orchestral fantasy Roc's Crater was named the winner of the 2023 Orchestral Composition Competition at the New England Conservatory, receiving much acclaim for its premiere under the baton of David Loebel. In 2021, he served as the arranger for the Arizona Philharmonic's sold-out We Wish You Christmas concert, reprogrammed by popular demand in 2023. His compositions have been performed by members of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and the Arizona Philharmonic.
Mathew is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music under Michael Gandolfi. Previously, he worked with Dr. Kati Agócs, Daniel Asia, Dr. Pamela Decker, and Arizona Philharmonic founder/director Henry Flurry full-time, and also worked intermittently with world-class composers such as David Ludwig, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Dimitri Tymoczko.
Mathew also serves as assistant to Richard Guérin, manager to internationally-renowned composer Philip Glass and his record label Orange Mountain Music. Mathew has assisted in the production of and has arranged music for concerts featuring the music of Mr. Glass as well as other internationally-recognized artists such as William Bolcom, Dennis Russel Davies, and Maki Namekawa, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Morgan Library, and Le Poisson Rouge.
When he's not composing, practicing, or playing an instrument, Mathew enjoys spending his time writing, exploring, and spending time with friends and family.
Composition Instructors:
Graduate:
Michael Gandolfi*
Kati Agócs*
Sid Richardson
Stratis Minakakis
Additional Programs:
David Ludwig, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Dimitri Tymoczko (Curtis)
Marti Epstein, Andy Vores, John Murphree (Boston Conservatory)
Undergraduate:
Daniel Asia*, Pamela Decker*
High School:
Henry Flurry* (Private)
*Principal Teacher
Mathew Lanning (M.M.) (1999 - ) is an internationally-performed award-winning composer, pianist, and organist based in Boston. He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the New England Conservatory.
Since his earliest years obsessively listening to Beethoven to the premieres of his own symphonies and concertos, music has guided Mathew through his life and has played a role each and every day of it. He began speeding through learning the piano at age 4, later beginning the cello at 7. Perpetually in a mindset of creating and storytelling, Mathew has always had a passion for telling stories - whether that be through music, writing, or anything else.
Mathew's early music career was packed full of compositional opportunities and a dense demand for prolificness. He began composing formally at age 12, using the many imagined whimsical stories he had written down as inspiration. His first concert-length work was finished at age 14, Symphony No. 1 - Everest was premiered a year later. Since then, Mathew has continued to write concert-length symphonies, ballets, and suites. He has composed over one hundred pieces for the piano ranging from concert suites to lively dances and quiet nocturnes for all variety of occasions.
Mathew had many opportunities to work with his high school’s orchestra daily, regularly student-teaching music theory, history, conducting, and composition, and often rehearsed
BIOGRAPHY
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