Matthew Witmer

Matthew is a professionally trained violist who has dedicated the past several decades to developing his craft. Born in Fort Lauderdale FL, the Witmers relocated to Philadelphia where Matthew began to demonstrate his love for singing and playing piano, and was introduced to string instruments in the fourth grade. Upon completion of high school, Matthew received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Viola Performance from the Boston Conservatory, studying with Patricia McCarty and Ed Gazouleas and other members of the Boston Symphony with further studies at the New England Conservatory. Matthew relocated to Los Angeles in 2001 where he studied film scoring at the Henry Mancini Institute while studying viola with principal members of the LA Philharmonic. It was at that time that Matthew founded the Mercury String Quartet, and was a member of the Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra, which performed at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Playboy Jazz Festival, and also played in Elvis Schoenberg's Orchestre Surreal. Other orchestras Matthew has worked with include the Chamber Orchestra of St Matthew's in Pacific Palisades, the Long Beach Symphony, Mozart Classical Orchestra, Riverside Philharmonic, Desert Symphony, Dream Orchestra, Opera A La Carte, Pacific Pops, Golden State Pops, Fresno Philharmonic, Center Stage Opera, Bakersfield Symphony, Redlands Symphony, San Bernardino Symphony, Debut Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, Brentwood Symphony, Santa Cecilia Symphony, New Valley Symphony, La Mirada Symphony, Burbank Philharmonic, Downey Symphony, Glendale Philharmonic, Westchester Symphony, Carson Symphony, Corona Symphony, Torrance Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, Santa Clarita Philharmonic, Marina Del Rey Summer Symphony, Dana Point Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, and many others. Throughout his career as a violist Matthew has performed at Boston Symphony Hall, NEC's Jordan Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Zipper Hall, UCLA Royce Hall, Schoenberg Hall, Skirball Cultural Center, Kodak Theater, Staples Center, Hollywood Bowl, Chicago's United Center, San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts and countless other venues. Some of the artists/celebrities Matthew has performed with include Bobby McFerrin, Sir James Galway, Jennifer Hudson, Peter Frampton, Babyface, Karyn White, Alan Parsons, Tony Danza, Jared Leto, Deadmau5, Anthony Mackie, Scott Bakula, David Benoit, Skylar Gray, LeeAnn Rimes, Jason Alexander, Frank Stallone, Lili Haydn, MAX, gnash, Macy Gray, Tim Robbins, Harrison Ford, Max Wright, Isaac Stern, Quincy Jones, DJ Quik, Bryce Vine, SonReal, NAS, Mos Def, Common, Parliament Funkadelic, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Keith Emerson, John Novacek, Kerry Hart, Holly Palmer, Dishwalla, Streetlight Manifesto, Guru, Elliott Gould, Melissa Manchester, June Lockhart, Merv Griffin, Lorna Luft, The Fifth Dimension, Tommy Tune, Michael Bolton, Marco Antonio Solis, John Tesh, David Hasselhoff, the Texas Tenors, the Gatlin Brothers, Boz Scaggs and Dianne Schuur. Some of the composers/conductors Matthew has worked with include John Williams, Alf Clausen, Gunther Schuller, Kent Nagano, Bruce Broughton, Joseph Silverstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Newton Howard, Stu Philips, Dennis McCarthy, David Newman, Michael Giacchino, Nathan Wang, Jeff Russo, Guy Michelmore, Grant Fonda, John Ottman, Alex Wurman, George S. Clinton, Alan Silvestri and Doc Severinson. Matthew has also recorded with the producers of artists such as No Doubt and Burt Bacharach as well as major Hollywood contractors like Peter Rotter and Gina Zimitti. Matthew currently resides in Beverly Hills where he routinely performs and contracts string players for chamber concerts, musicals, private events, weddings, recording sessions, church and corporate events. He has also performed for celebrity weddings such as those for members of the bands Weezer and Green Day and continues to work on film trailers, scores, and music videos. Despite his busy schedule, Matthew still finds time to teach a full studio of Viola/Violin/Piano students as well as coaching at area schools and lecturing young students on professional life. Every December Matthew enjoys three and a half weeks of running from church to church playing Christmas music. Matthew has also played with countless tribute bands, such as Almost Elton John, Arrival From Sweden (ABBA), Symphonic Springsteen, Top of The World (Carpenters), and many other bands covering artists such as Michael Jackson, Neil Young, Prince, Ray Charles, Frankie Valli and more. Matthew has been a committed proponent of the preservation and performance of the shows of Gilbert and Sullivan since the 1990s and has served as principal violist for countless tours of the Mikado, HMS Pinafore and the Pirates of Penzance. He served as the principal violist of the Los Angeles Gilbert and Sullivan company, Opera A LA Carte, from 2004 until its demise in 2012. He serves as principal violist for the western tours of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Company. One of Matthew's favorite things to perform are Broadway musicals, he has played almost every musical with a viola part at least once, if not countless runs of the show. Matthew enjoys playing violin as well as viola on musicals. Matthew was principal violist for the Hollywood Concert Orchestra for their 2017 and 2018 tours of 11 cities in China playing popular film classics and in 2017 was also invited by the world famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma to arrange and perform Francois Couperin's Concert Pieces with him in a string quartet. In the pop world, Matthew was invited to perform with Ariana Grande on the 2020 Grammys and with Sofia Carson in an online concert.