BIOGRAPHY
"We sing to him whose wisdom formed the ear.
Our songs let Him made our voices hear."
Praised by the Colorado Spring's Gazette for his "stunning" singing with "power and beauty", Matthew Peterson is a baritone acclaimed for his rich voice and expressive acting ability.
A Colorado native, Matthew has performed with several premiere musical organizations including Central City Opera, the Colorado Ballet, Virginia Opera, the New England Symphony, and Opera Santa Barbara. His career highlights are the leading baritone roles in Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutte, and Le Nozze di Figaro, as well the Novice in Billy Budd, Silvio from Pagliacci, and the title role of Gianni Schicchi. No stranger to the music of broadway, Matthew has played Signor Nacarelli in A Light in the Piazza, Joseph in Dreamcoat, and appeared in numerous other productions of musicals. As a sought-after concert soloist he's performed many of the most demanding works for baritone including Carmina Burana with the Colorado Ballet, Poulenc's Le Bal Masque with the New England Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Five Mystical Songs by Vaughen-Williams, Haydn's Creation, and premiered the dance oratorio Ode to Nature that was recorded and released by Albion Records.
In 2019, Matthew won 1st place in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild competition. This year he was also regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera's 2023 Laffont competition. He is a graduate of the prestigious Yale School of Music where he studied with the legendary Richard Cross and studied with Ken Cox and Matthew Plenk at the University of Denver. He currently lives in Santa Barbara, CA where he performs with the resident opera company and teaches private voice lessons.