Matthew McClosky

Matthew is a 23-year-old Seattle jazz pianist who performs locally, teaches, and writes original music. His compositions are deeply emotional and always lyrical. He gets part of his inspiration from what he hears in the world, which is quite a bit more than the rest of us. Matthew is a synesthete who hears an extra layer of sound with everything that moves in his visual field and every motion of his body. When asked where he got a complex interweaving rhythm for one of his pieces, he replied that it was from the sound that a maple seed makes as it spins to the ground, combined with the sound he hears from his own footsteps. Leaves in the wind are crystalline chimes, and flashes of light are booming sounds. This contributes to a musical style that is all his own.

He began playing piano at the age of five, and began playing gigs at coffeehouses and private parties at 14. Matthew performed in Roosevelt High’s nationally recognized jazz program for four years, both in small ensemble and big-band settings. Privately, he studied for years with Seattle pianists Dawn Clement and Ty Bailey. He also studied at Cornish College of the Arts.

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