Community Concert Series: Matt Shevitz, saxophonist/clarinetist

This month’s performance in our free Community Concert Series features saxophonist and clarinetist Matt Shevitz.

Matt is an in-demand musician in the jazz, blues and popular music scenes in Chicago. Throughout his music career he has performed alongside such internationally renowned jazz musicians as Dick Hyman, Ignacio Berroa, Howard Levy, Frank Capp, Randy Sandke, Ken Peplowski, Byron Stripling and Frank Wess along with blues/roots rock guitarist Eric Lindell and many others. Matt has performed at such festivals and clubs as the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival, Lollapalooza, the Jazz Showcase, the House of Blues in Chicago, the Waterfront Blues Festival (in Portland, Oregon) and as a featured artist for Shedd Institute for the Arts (in Eugene, Oregon) and the Modlin Center for the Performing Arts (in Richmond, Virginia). In addition to performing, Matt has contributed several articles to DownBeat Magazine ranging from transcription analysis of great jazz solos to jazz theory and effective practice habits. 

Matt is currently on faculty at the College of DuPage where he teaches a wide range of courses, directs the jazz ensembles, and co-chairs the Music Department. Prior to this appointment he served on the faculty at Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. He received a doctoral degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009, for which he did extensive research on the great jazz saxophonist Harold "Tina" Brooks. Matt's other degrees consist of a Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Music from the University of Oregon.