About

Matthew Kaplan is a classical guitarist based in New York City.  He holds dual bachelor’s degrees of Music Education and Music Performance with a minor in piano performance from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a master’s of Music Performance from Mannes College - The New School for Music where he studied with classical guitar luminaries like Frederic Hand and Michael Newman.

 

Matt’s performing experience includes venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Kimmel Center, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and the Morgan Library and Museum.  He has also had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses for musicians like Leo Brouwer, Jorge Caballero, Manuel Barrueco, Scott Tennant, William Kanengeiser, Eduardo Fernández, Martha Masters, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and many more.

 

Internationally, Matt has brought his music to Perú at the Universidad Nacional de Música in 2007. In Italy he performed as a soloist with the Rome Festival Orchestra in 2010 and in 2018 he performed in Lanciano as a fellowship recipient of the 2018 Lanciano International Guitar Seminar.  Matt also regularly performs in Santiago de Chile and Barcelona, Spain.

 

In 2021 Matt released a double album recording of chamber music of pieces composed by the Bolivian composer Jaime Zenamon.  Zenamon - A Chamber Music Collection includes music for guitar and cello, guitar and violin, guitar duo, guitar trio, and guitar quartet featuring Matt’s colleagues and friends in New York City.  You can hear Matt’s debut guitar chamber music album “Zenamon - A Chamber Music Collection” on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Tidal, and more.                                                                                       

In addition to Matt’s performing career, Matt has also flourished as a private educator of classical guitar & teaching pedagogy.  Matt has over 15 years of teaching experience working with students of all ages, abilities, and musical interests.  In Matt’s most recent teaching experience, Matt established himself as an effective guitar instructor at the award winning NYC private music school Sage Music and was promoted to be the company’s first ever education manager where he was in charge of training teachers to teach effective and impactful lessons.

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Recently, Matt co-founded the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society - a community that seeks to nourish and build the classical guitar community in Brooklyn, and to increase awareness and appreciation of classical guitar music everywhere.  Find out more at www.bkcgs.org

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In fall of 2023, Maestro Leo Brouwer wrote a solo classical guitar piece dedicated to Matt called "El Mito de Sísifo."  Matt Is currently working towards recording and premiere the pieces planned for Fall 2024.  

 

Currently Matt plays in NYC as a soloist and with chamber music groups like Duokado (guitar and cello duo),  The Alexander Wu Quartet, and Matadora (guitar & piano).  He teaches classical guitar lessons online and at his studio in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.