Artistic Director
violin and viola
Clazz Chamber Orchestra conductor
Matt Pickart is a violinist, violist, famiolist, and pedagogue in multiple styles. He is the Artistic Director and creator of Clazz International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. He has the distinct honor and privilege of having performed at both Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Music Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He has also been featured in performances at the Cremona Summer Music Festival, Jazzstadt Stuttgart, Gulangyu Concert Hall, Estonian Academy of Music and Theater, and Juilliard’s Paul Hall among others. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras in the USA, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands. Other career highlights include performances with The Who, Barry Manilow on tour; The Vogues, and Josh Groban as concertmaster; and as principal violist for Bernadette Peters, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
He is currently a touring electric violinist and violist with The Rock Orchestra throughout United States and Canada. As a classical orchestral player, he has performed with premier ensembles, including the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica “Città di Grosseto”, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to classical and contemporary music, Pickart has performed, improvised, and recorded in multiple genres including bluegrass, blues, choro, country, flamenco, folk, hip hop, indie rock, jazz, klezmer, mariachi, punk, rock, and tango.
Matt is lucky to count some of the great luminaries of the music world, among his teachers, such as: Sidney Harth (legendary American concertmaster); Yuri Gandelsman (former principal violist of Israel Philharmonic and violist with the Fine Arts Quartet); and Rodney Whitaker (bassist of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.)
Dr. Pickart served as Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Chamber Music, and taught violin, viola, improvisation, and music entrepreneurship at Webster University in Saint Louis. He has also served on the faculties of Beloit College, University of Missouri-Saint Louis, Jazz St. Louis, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Okemos Suzuki, the City Music Center of Duquesne University, and the Community Music Schools of Michigan State University and Webster University. In the summers he is a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Summer Music Clinic, Renova Music Festival, and Clazz, where he teaches violin and viola and conducts the Clazz Chamber Orchestra.
For further information, please visit www.mattpickart.com