Matthew Quayle
Assistant Arts Professor of Music
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: BM Oberlin Conservatory; MM University of Cincinnati; PhD New York University (GSAS)
Research Areas: music theory
Matthew Quayle is an American composer and pianist whose diverse compositional output ranges from orchestral works to cabaret song cycles. His music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles including Alarm Will Sound, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Arditti String Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, eighth blackbird, Janus, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Locrian Chamber Players, New London Children’s Choir, United States Air Force Strings, and Westchester Symphonic Winds; and soloists including Deborah Andrus, Emanuele Arciuli, Claire Chase, Lorraine Duso, Gail Levinsky, Jameson Platte, and Ashley Sandor Sidon.
His album of original solo piano music, Songs Without Words, was released on Albany Records in July 2015. He wrote the music and lyrics for the 2013 album Amazed By You, a collection of original cabaret songs commissioned by soprano Marian Murphy. In 2016 he worked on an album of cello and piano music with Jameson Platte, featuring original music alongside works of Chabrier, Cipullo, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Webern. Upcoming recording projects include an album of his complete string quartets by the Avalon String Quartet.
Quayle has performed widely as a solo pianist and chamber musician. He has collaborated closely with cellist Jameson Platte since 2005. They have appeared at Bar Harbor Music Festival, Glens Falls Symphony MusicBridge Festival, Kosciuszko Foundation, Merkin Concert Hall, Monmouth Conservatory, Montclair Art Museum, New York University, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Skidmore College—sometimes joined by flutist Allison Kiger (as Ensemble Tremblay) or violinist Michael Emery (as the Omega Trio). In addition to recitals of his own compositions, he presented a solo Chopin program at the Winter Garden of New York’s World Financial Center in 2010, as part of the Chopin 200 Bicentennial Festival. He has worked in a staff or freelance capacity as a collaborative pianist at Hamilton College, New England Music Camp, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Cincinnati, UMass Amherst, and UNC Greensboro.
Quayle is an experienced instructor of music theory with particular expertise in the pedagogy of tonal harmony and counterpoint. Prior to his appointment at NYU Abu Dhabi in 2012, Quayle taught at New York University College of Arts and Science, Guilford College, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and University of Massachusetts Lowell. He was a faculty artist at New England Music Camp from 2002 to 2014.