“…Wonderfully combined minimalist style with a lyrical American ballad quality that I’d be eager to hear again.”
-Daniele Sahr, Seen and Heard International
biography
The music of Brooklyn-based composer Matt Frey creates intimately sentimental sonic worlds inflected with churning rhythms, minimalist-like textures, and extended moments of restless tension.
Photo by Danny Bristoll
Frey’s catalog of vocal works—comprising song cycles, music-theater works, and opera—include the recent release of his first studio album, One-Eleven Heavy, a chamber opera dedicated to the victims of the 1998 Swissair Flight 111 crash and recorded with ensemble Hotel Elefant featuring soprano Jenny Ribeiro and Grammy-award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman. Other vocal works include the musical Mary, written with playwright Melisa Tien and based on the life of controversial schoolteacher Mary Kay Letourneau; the chamber opera The Fox and the Pomegranate, a parable-like tale of love and infidelity which won the 2014 Pellicciotti Opera Prize; and the co-written oratorio Moby Dick: Extracts on Death and Other Curiosities, co-commissioned by Contemporaneous and MATA. Frey’s vocal music has been performed and workshopped across the U.S. and in Canada at festivals and programs including The American Opera Project’s Composers & the Voice program, Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers, the Crane School of Music, Opera From Scratch, the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist and PlayTime Development Studios, the John Duffy Composers Institute, and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop.
Frey’s instrumental music explores a more abstract approach to narrative, focusing on the concept of tension and release. Often using harmonic or melodic inspiration from popular or electronic music to infuse his compositions, his music has been commissioned and presented in collaboration with ensembles and companies such as the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, PUBLIQuartet (in collaboration with BODYART Dance Company), Synergy Percussion, the JACK String Quartet, Young Dancemakers Company, the West Point Woodwind Quintet, the NYU Symphony Orchestra, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, Echo Chamber, andPlay, and the Manhattan Wind Ensemble in venues including Roulette (Brooklyn), ISSUE Project Room (Brooklyn), 92Y TriBeCa (Manhattan), and the Bang on a Can Summer Festival at MASS MoCA.
With musical interests extending to performing (clarinet and piano), conducting, and arts management, Frey has been an employee of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (where he helped bolster a national music curriculum for elementary school recorder students) and has been known as an event curator and producer with West 4th New Music Collective (W4). He is a graduate of the Masters program in Music Composition at New York University and holds an undergraduate degree in Music Composition from Brooklyn College, where he studied with composers including Jason Eckardt, Douglas Geers, Joan La Barbara, Tania León, Robert Maggio, and Julia Wolfe.
compositions
opera/vocal with ensemble
Babe Not Mine (2022) 6’
Instrumentation: soprano, piano, flute (opt.)
Song using traditional (translated) Gaelic lullaby text
Commissioned by soprano Jenny Ribeiro and premiered at the MSU College of Music, March 2022.
Marble House (2021—in progress) 60’ (projected)
Instrumentation: soprano (2), mezzo-soprano, chamber orchestra
Chamber opera for film
Selected scenes shown by The American Opera Project as a live concert performance in September 2021.
I Have a Bag Full of Dreams (2020) 4’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, piano, cello.
Song with text written by essential pandemic worker Veronica Rua.
Commissioned and premiered by White Snake Projects as part of their "Sing Out Strong" concert series, December 2020.
The four “First Glimpse” arias (immediately below) are a collection of four opera arias written during a fellowship with The American Opera Project; text by the composer and others; premiered as part of the First Glimpse video (online) concert series by AOP in November-December 2020:
Your Friends (2020) 4’
Instrumentation: soprano and piano.
Premiered by Jasmine Muhammad.
Yesterday (2020) 5’
Instrumentation: baritone and piano (alternate: tenor and piano).
Premiered by Mario Diaz-Moresco.
Published in Modern Music for New Singers: Tenor Vol. 2 from North Star Music.
Performed by Timothy Stoddard, Pittsburgh, PA, Feb. 2022 (tenor version).
I Remember Remembering (from The Fox and the Pomegranate) (2019) 5’
Text by Daniel J. Kushner
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Premiered (online) by Augusta Caso
Let Them Drink Wine (2020) 3’
Text by Amanda Hollander
Instrumentation: bass-baritone and piano.
Premiered by Brandon Coleman
Opera/Vocal, cont’d:
Wilde Songs (2017) 9’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, piano, cello.
Song cycle in three movements using text of Oscar Wilde (from The Importance of Being Earnest).
Written for/premiered by Kathie Kane, Potsdam, NY, May 2017.
One-Eleven Heavy (2014/rev. 2015 for chamber ensemble) 10’/14'
Instrumentation (2014): soprano, baritone, and piano.
Instrumentation (rev. 2015): soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and chamber ensemble: 2 flt/2 clt/hrn/pno/perc/vln/vla/vcl/cb.
Premiered by Opera From Scratch, Halifax, NS, Canada, Aug. 2014.
Recorded by Hotel Elefant with Jenny Ribeiro and Karim Sulayman, 2016; released by Parma Recordings, May 2019.
Moby Dick: Extracts on Death and Other Curiosities (2014) 16’
Some Ships, A White and Turbid Wake, and Lower Away (three movements of a co-written oratorio).
Instrumentation: 3 sopranos, tenor, baritone, and chamber orchestra: 111(sax)1/1110/2perc/gtr/pno/str.
Premiered by Contemporaneous, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 2014.
What You Resist (2013) 7’
Instrumentation: contralto and baroque ensemble (soprano recorder, baroque violin, tenor viola da gamba, bass viola da gamba, harpsichord).
Premiered by W4 New Music, Brooklyn, NY, April 2013.
The Fox and the Pomegranate (chamber opera; 2011- in progress)
Projected runtime: 60 minutes.
Instrumentation: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and orchestra: 2222/2000/2perc/hrp/str.
Winner of the 2014 Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize.
Excerpts performed at:
New York University, New York, NY, May 2012;
The John Duffy Composers Institute, Norfolk, VA, June 2012;
Fort Worth Opera’s inaugural Frontiers Showcase, Fort Worth, TX, May 2013;
The Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY, Nov. 2014.
A Painting of Pollock (2011) 15’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano with finger cymbals, 1 percussion (vibes, crotales, gong, sus. cymbal, triangle, snare drum).
Premiered by W4 New Music, Brooklyn, NY, September 2011.
orchestra
Compression (2011) 8’
Instrumentation: 2(1 picc.)222/2210/timp/1 perc/hrp/str.
Premiered by the NYU Symphony Orchestra, New York, NY, May 2011.
Chaconne (2010) 7’
Instrumentation: 22+bcl.22/2210/2 perc/str.
Read by the Brooklyn College Orchestra, Brooklyn, NY, May 2010.
Chamber Symphony (2000) 10’
Instrumentation: 2220/2000/timp/hrp/pf/3 perc/str.
Performed by students of West Chester University, West Chester, PA, May 2001.
large ensemble
Three Teasdale Songs (2017) 21’
Instrumentation: string orchestra.
Three movements inspired by poetry of Sara Teasdale: Evening Skies, Yet I Am I, and A Rush of Rain.
Commissioned and premiered by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, March 2017.
Sample Music for Wind Instruments (2009) 5’
Instrumentation: large wind ensemble.
Performed by:
The Brooklyn College Wind Ensemble, Brooklyn, NY, May 2009 (premiere);
The Manhattan Wind Ensemble, New York, NY, May 2011.
North New (2001) 4’
Instrumentation: string orchestra.
chamber ensemble
Torque (2017) 15’
Instrumentation: flute, violin, cello, percussion (bongos, glockenspiel, tom-tom, woodblock, castanets).
Commissioned and premiered by Cadillac Moon Ensemble, 2017.
lean (2016) 6’
Instrumentation: clarinet (+bass clt), vln, vcl, cb, pno, vib. (motor)
Performed by:
Echo Chamber, New York, NY, May 2016 (premiere) and Brooklyn, NY, October 2016;
Verdant Vibes, Providence, RI, February 2020.
. . . grows cold (2015) 2’
Instrumentation: percussion quartet: marimba, vibraphone (2), glockenspiel.
Commissioned and recorded by Synergy Percussion, 2016.
#PUSH!!! (2013) 6’
Instrumentation: violin, viola, cello.
Commissioned by Christopher Dwyer for Amy Marie Waldron
Performed by:
duo andPlay with Mariel Roberts, Brooklyn, NY, September 2013 (premiere);
Pulsing & Shaking Festival, NYU, New York, NY, February 2014.
Red Oak Ensemble, Morristown, NJ, May 2015 and Asbury Park, NJ, July 2015;
Cantando String Quartet, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, July 2017.
Pulling Anchor (2013) 4’
Instrumentation: violin and viola.
Commissioned by duo andPlay.
Performed by:
duo andPlay, New York, NY, February 2013 (premiere); April 2013; Brooklyn, NY, May 2014; June 2014; March 2015;
Four for Fall concert, New York, NY, September 2014.
Anchor (2012) 1’
Instrumentation: solo violin.
Premiered by Maya Bennardo, New York, NY, December 2012.
White Shirt (2012) 5’
Instrumentation: flute, toy piano.
Premiered by Yoobin Whang, New York, NY, December 2012.
Concessions (2013) 8’
Instrumentation: alto sax., guitar, violin.
Premiered by ECCE at the Etchings Festival, Auvillar, France, June 2012.
Go On Longer (2012) 5’
Instrumentation: solo marimba.
Premiered by Sean Statser, 2012.
A Fundamental Groundlessness (2012) 7’
Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, piano, 2 percussion, violin, viola, cello, bass.
Performed by the NYU Contemporary Ensemble, New York, NY, March 2012 (premiere) and May 2012.
Procession (2011) 7’
Instrumentation: string quartet.
Performed by:
JACK String Quartet, New York, NY, May 2011 (premiere);
Skyros Quartet, Austin, TX, April 2014;
Ensemble 1685, New York, NY, November 2014;
Ensemble Ipse, Brooklyn, NY, December 2018.
Sums of Parts (2011) 6’
Instrumentation: woodwind quintet.
Performed by:
NYU Woodwind Quintet, New York, NY May 2011;
West Point Woodwind Quintet, New York, NY, January 2012;
Washington Square Winds, New York, NY, April 2013; March 2014; Brooklyn, NY, May 2013.
Recorded by Washington Square Winds, 2014.
Descent (2011) 8’
Instrumentation: 3 sopranos, 3 treble instruments (any), 1 bass instrument (any), piano.
Premiered by W4 New Music, New York, NY, April 2011.
se nuance à l'infini (2011) 6’
Instrumentation: flute quartet.
Performed by:
Brooklyn College Flute Quartet, Brooklyn, NY, December 2009 (premiere); and Manhattan, NY, March 2010;
NYU Flute Quartet, New York, NY, November 2011.
Canon Prelude (2009) 5’
Instrumentation: solo cello and electronics; or 8 acoustic cellos.
Performed by:
Seth Woods, Brooklyn, NY, November 2009 (electronic version, premiere);
W4 New Music, New York, NY, June 2012 (acoustic version, premiere);
Bang on a Can at MASS MoCA, July 2012 (acoustic version);
Nick Photinos, University of Manitoba, December 2019 (acoustic version);
Nick Photinos, Jacksonville University, November 2021 (acoustic version).
Dance Suite (2008-09) 15’
Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, violin, cello.
Performed by ConTempo, Brooklyn, NY, December 2008; April 2009.
PentOcta (1999) 3’
Instrumentation: flute, clarinet.
Premiered in New York, NY, December 2010.
Rondo In C (1997) 4’
Instrumentation: clarinet quintet (4 cl., 1 bcl.)
The Emily Variations (1997) 12’
Instrumentation: clarinet quintet (4 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet).
electronic
“26” (2023) 2’
Through A New Lens (2021) 6’
Self-Acceptance (2019) 3’
All of the above are electronic works for dance, created in collaboration with the Young Dancemakers Company and presented each summer on a series of concerts throughout New York City (or online due to pandemic restrictions).
songs/theater
MARY (2016-2019), musical-in-progress
Book and lyrics by Melisa Tien.
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and tenor with ensemble cast.
Act One presented in workshop at New Dramatists, New York, NY, November 2017.
Various songs performed at Cornelia Street Cafe and The Duplex, New York, NY, 2017 through 2019.
Moment Over (2018) 4’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Premiered by Shanna Lesniak, New York, NY, October 2018.
Without A Thorn (2017) 3’30”
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Written for and premiered by Jen Anaya, New York, NY, August 2017.
Published in the NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music for Mezzo-Soprano, Vol 1.
On the Inside (2016) 3’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Text: Jessica Dickey.
Performed by:
Jessica Medoff, New York, NY, March 2016;
Abby Lee Mosconi, New York, NY, August 2017.
The Sound of Light (2016) 3’
Instrumentation: soprano, tenor, and piano.
Text: Cori Thomas.
Performed by:
Jen Anaya and Karim Sulayman, New York, NY, March 2016;
Jenny Ribeiro and Karim Sulayman, Brooklyn, NY, June 2019.
Sorry (2011) 1’
Instrumentation: soprano and piano.
Text: D. H. Lawrence
Written for and premiered by Jenny Ribeiro, New York, NY, November 2011.
There Will Be Rest (2009) 5’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Text: Sara Teasdale.
Written for and performed by Sara Dougherty, Brooklyn, NY, 2009.
Waiting (2009) 5’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and piano.
Text: Becky Frey.
Premiered by Jocelyne O’Toole, Brooklyn, NY, June 2011.
Sweater (2008) 6’
Instrumentation: alto and piano (rev. 2010 for mezzo-soprano).
Text: Becky Frey.
Performed by Jocelyne O’Toole, December 2010.
Antigone’s Lament (2008) 3’
Instrumentation: coloratura soprano and chamber orchestra or piano.
Text: Sophocles.
Written for and premiered by Monica Harte, New York, NY, November 2008.
Performed by Jenny Ribeiro in New York, NY, January 2010; May 2012; Brooklyn, NY, June 2011; June 2019.
The Party (scenes from the musical) (2004-05) 20’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, clarinet, piano.
Text: Christopher Barnes.
Performed by the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, New York, NY, May 2005.
Lamb to the Slaughter: A Musical in One Murderous Act (2004) 12’
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, 2 tenors, baritone, piano.
Text: Alan Gordon.
Performed by:
The BMI Musical Theater Workshop, New York, NY, June 2004 (premiere);
Inside the Underground, New York, NY, January 2018.
Alice (songs from the musical) (1998) 15’
Instrumentation: large (mixed) cast and piano
Text: Lewis Carroll.
solo piano
Almost to the Stars: Epic for Piano (2000) 12’
12X12 (1999) 2’
At Paget (1998) 8’
Sonatina (1997) 8’ (in two movements)
Renaissance (1996) 6’