The music of composer Matthew Kennedy (b. 1987) contains disarming simplicity, often seeking out dark places with an uninhibited wonder and spirit of exploration. His work has been performed on five continents and received critical acclaim including honors and commissions from ASCAP, BMI, Opera on Tap, Boston Musica Viva, Hartford Opera Theater, bassist Robert Black, Dynamic Music Festival at NYU, as well as residencies at Marble House Project (VT), Atlantic Center for the Arts (FL), Hambidge Center (GA), Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology (MI), The Horned Dorset Artist Colony (NY), Soaring Gardens Artist's Retreat (PA), and the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities (CT). Recent activities include performances and lectures at New Music on the Bayou, Bowling Green New Music Festival, Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival, New Music Gathering at Boston Conservatory, Duke University, University of Virginia, Kent State University, Constantinides New Music Ensemble (LSU), Florida Flute Association, Northwestern University New Music Conference, Fresh Inc. Festival, Tampa Homegrown Concert Series, and the North American Saxophone Alliance International Conference.

His works are published through Just a Theory Press. Recently his Theme + 4 Brief Variants (2009, rev. 2015) was selected for publication in NewMusicShelf’s Anthology of New Music: Solo Piano Vol. 1. Recordings of his work have been published by Parma Recordings, Soundset Recordings, and Ink & Coda Journal.

Matthew holds degrees from The Hartt School (DMA), Butler University (MM), and Anderson University (BA), where his primary teachers have included Michael Schelle, Robert Carl, Larry Alan Smith, Elizabeth Brown, and Manuel Sosa. Recently his work as digital music engraver has received national recognition, being published in Indiana Theory Review (“Keeping Time in Mozart's Eine kleine Gigue, K.574” by Ira Braus) as well as presented at the 2015 Chicago Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (“Sacred Spaces: Teaching Children to Create Music” presented by Glen Adsit and Michael Colgrass). Matthew is currently the Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at Heidelberg University, having previously taught at University of South Florida and The Hartt School. He currently resides in Tiffin, Ohio with his wife, studio artist Erin Kennedy, and four children.