Matthew Kaminski is a composer for film, chamber, and orchestral music, originally from Portland, OR. His music has been described as extremely evocative with large amounts of imagery, emotion, and drama.
Currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Matthew’s music has been performed from coast to coast. He writes music for a variety of settings, including orchestra, film, podcasts, virtual reality, chamber ensembles, and concertos. He is a ten time first place winner for the state of Oregon through MTNA and NFMC, and has been a national finalist three times. He participated in the Young Composers Project through fEar No Music for six years, Cascadia Composers, chapter of NACUSA, attended the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute (NC) and the Walden School Young Musicians Program (NH), and was a guest conductor for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
In 2023, he performed and conducted a culmination of his music, including Pipe Dream and Lightning at Chapman University for his senior recital. In 2022 he premiered his first flute concerto, Your Clouds are my Snow, with flutist Cheryl Zhang and director Kristofer Sanz in Washington D.C.. He also conducted the premiere of Hidden Voices with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, a piece written about budget cuts to music in public school systems, leaving many young kids with no hands-on exposure to music. Matthew conducted the MYS in the premiere of this piece at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR. In 2020, he also released his debut album, Stratosphere, on Spotify & Apple Music.
Matthew received a B.M. in music composition at Chapman University, studying under Jeffery Holmes and Sean Heim. He has also studied with Ryan Francis, Michael Johanson, Janice Park, Linda Barker, Ruth Sadelik, and Daniel Brugh. More information about his journey as a composer can be found at On Deck with All Classical Portland.
In the News
“…Kaminski has proven himself a local composer worth paying attention to. He’s one of several young composers to come through Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project, and has distinguished himself on several Cascadia Composers concerts… Got your doubts about local living composers? Go listen to Kaminski and hear the future for yourself.”
by MATTHEW NEIL ANDREWS , Oregon ArtsWatch, MusicWatch Monthly: A harvest feast
Reviews
“You really “paint the picture” well in this composition. …Your piece would make for a terrific soundtrack! …can’t wait for the “sequel”!”
Dr. Arthur Houle, Professor of Music & Director of Keyboard Studies, Colorado Mesa University
“Very nice romantic era dramatism! I love the sound you create! …I love your virtuosic handling of the piano line! Very classic. You also do a great job of passing motives around to different instruments.”
Katie Myler, Orchestras and Ensembles Coordinator, Community Music School of Webster University
“You show a real flair in writing for a chamber ensemble.”
Dr. Randy Earles, Idaho State University
“This is full of so much creativity and exuberance – really a pleasure to see and hear.”
Kenji Bunch, Artistic Director of FearNoMusic
“You captured your subject matter in an eclectic and creative way and turned out a polished a captivating work.”
Nicholas Yandell, Cascadia Composers
“It reminds me of film music… Your compositional understanding and writing talent is prodigious for your age.”
Gina Pruitt, Reed College
“This is an outstanding piece, full of color and light… This is truly an artistic musical painting…”
Jan Mittelsteadt, music teacher and composer, Cascadia Composers
“Very interesting piece and extra musical concept… I could almost picture this piece working with film or dance to go with it.”
Paul Safar, composer, performer and piano teacher, Cascadia Composers