Matthew Means Founding/Artistic Director WKSA Advanced Orchestra Conductor Chamber Ensemble Coach FHSU Assistant Professor of Upper Strings PS, Cleveland Institute of Music, 2002 MM, Cleveland Institute of Music, 1999 mmeans@fhsu.edu

Violinist Matt Means continues to impress audiences across the United States with mature, seasoned performances that span the entire range of solo, orchestral, and chamber venues. Currently Interim Chairman of the Department of Music at Ft. Hays State University and Visiting Lecturer in Music at the University of Northern Colorado, Means received his BM from UNC, and a MM and Professional Studies Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary teachers include William Preucil, Linda Sharon Cerone, Stephen Majeske, and Richard Fuchs. He has also received supplementary instruction from Donald Weilerstein, and has received mentorship and coaching from members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, and Cavani Quartets, the Beaux Arts and Canterbury Trios, and the Cleveland Duo. Means has also studied orchestral repertoire from members of the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic.

Means maintains a very active adjudication and teaching schedule; recent masterclass and guest clinician appearances include visits to California, Colorado, and Kansas. Students and ensembles Means have coached have won prizes locally on their campuses and regionally; many have subsequently been accepted to prestigious music conservatories and summer music festivals.

As a founding member of the Matisse Piano Trio, Means has performed chamber music across the United States. Recent engagements include a multi-state trio recital tour, performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto, and solo appearances with orchestras in Colorado and Kansas. He has appeared in chamber music collaboration with some of the greatest musicians of our time, including Sarah Chang, Angel Romero, and Theodore Kuchar; other chamber music engagements have included members of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Milwaukee Symphony. Means frequently appears as solo recitalist; recent appearances include recitals in Kansas and Colorado. Other orchestras with which Means has appeared as soloist include the Greeley Chamber Orchestra, the University of Northern Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the National Repertory Orchestra.

As an orchestral performer, Means has served in first desk capacities with orchestras in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and California, under the batons of such notable conductors as Gerard Schwarz, Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman, Gerhard Zimmermann, Michael Christie, and Carlos Kalmar. Means has served as concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Ft. Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Greeley Philharmonic, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony, and the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. Other professional orchestral ensembles he has found affiliation with include the New World Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbus (OH) Symphony Orchestra.

Summer festivals Means has attended or been invited to attend include the Cabrillo Music Festival (CA), the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute (MD), Kent/Blossom Summer Music (OH), the Encore School for Strings (OH), and the Colorado Music Festival.