Mary Matthews

Flutist Mary Matthews enjoys an active career as an international soloist, chamber musician, orchestral flutist, and pedagogue, and has performed on four continents in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Fundação Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Festival Goethe Institut Música Nueva, and Cité Internationale des Arts. Matthews is an Assistant Professor of Flute at Florida State University’s College of Music; prior to her appointment at FSU, she served as Associate Professor of Flute at Tennessee Tech’s School of Music. She currently serves as second flute of the Tallahassee Symphony, and she performs regularly with orchestras such as the Nashville Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, and Chattanooga Symphony, among others.

An active studio musician and recording artist, Matthews can be heard on soundtracks for film, TV, and video games on Netflix, HBO, and Disney. She has released four albums including Intersections on the Ravello Records label, Three-Nine Line on the MSR Classics label, Charuhas on the Naxos Label, and Preludes & Recitations on the Tonsehen Records label. She has a fifth album forthcoming in 2023 with the Maryland Chamber Winds. 

An avid performer of new music, Matthews has premiered over 50 new works. She is known for her command of extended techniques and her adventurous programming. She is half of Duo Rossignol with soprano Hillary LaBonte, and the two have been featured at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the New Music Gathering, the Dairy Arts Center’s Soundscape series, and the National Flute Association convention. She also performs as a member of Khemia Ensemble, a 12-member ensemble dedicated to the programming of diverse and innovative repertoire. Khemia Ensemble is 2023 winner of the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant with composer Anuj Bhutani. They have been featured at venues and festivals including National Sawdust, the Mizzou International Composers Festival, Strange Beautiful Music, New Music Gathering, Latin IS America, the Missouri Summer Composition Institute, and the Biennial New Music Festival in Córdoba, Argentina. Passionate artist educators, Khemia has also held residencies at more than a dozen universities in North and South America.

In June of 2021 she released her first method book, co-authored by Nicole Chamberlain, titled Beatboxing and Beyond. The book is published by Spotted Rocket and was reviewed as “a revelation – it’s a worthy addition to all our libraries” (Flutist Quarterly). She was awarded the 2022 Scholastic Research Award from Tennessee Tech University for the book, and the National Flute Association named Beatboxing & Beyond a finalist in the 2022 Newly Published Music awards. The second volume will be released in 2023. 

A native of Rochester, NY, Matthews began her formal flute studies at the Eastman School of Music’s Preparatory Program. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The Hartt School, the Master of Music Degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and the Bachelor of Music Degree from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. Her primary teachers include Jan Angus, George Pope, and Janet Arms.

MaryMatthewsFlute.com