Bio

Matthew Quayle is an American composer and pianist. He has received commissions and performances from ensembles including Akira Saxophone Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Almeida Theatre (London), Arditti String Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, The Brass Project, eighth blackbird, Janus, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Locrian Chamber Players, New London Children’s Choir, United States Air Force Strings, and the Westchester Symphonic Winds; and many soloists, including Deborah Andrus, Emanuele Arciuli, Claire Chase,  Lorraine Duso, Gail Levinsky, Jameson Platte, and Ashley Sandor Sidon. His diverse compositional output ranges from concert orchestral works to cabaret song cycles. 

Quayle’s three string quartets, recorded by the Avalon Quartet, were released on the Naxos label in December 2018. The album Entr’acte, recorded with cellist Jameson Platte (featuring works of Chabrier, Cipullo, Debussy, Quayle, Rachmaninoff, and Webern), was released on Albany Records in early 2019. His 2015 album of original solo piano music, Songs Without Words, was also released on Albany Records. He wrote the music and lyrics for the 2013 album Amazed By You, a collection of original cabaret songs commissioned by soprano Marian Murphy. 

Quayle has performed widely as a solo pianist and chamber musician. Recent highlights include Mozart and Fauré piano quartets on the Sembrich Concert Series (Bolton Landing, NY) and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Skidmore Orchestra (Saratoga Springs, NY) under the direction of Charles Schneider. He has appeared in recital at Bar Harbor Music Festival, Glens Falls Symphony MusicBridge Festival, Kosciuszko Foundation, Merkin Concert Hall, Monmouth Conservatory, Montclair Art Museum, New York University, and NYU Abu Dhabi. Quayle has collaborated closely with cellist Jameson Platte since 2005, sometimes joined by violinist Michael Emery (as the Omega Trio). 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 currently Associate Arts Professor of Music at NYU Abu Dhabi. He served as Program Head of Music at NYUAD from 2017 to 2020. He has also taught at New York University’s 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 2012 to 2014. A native of Waterville, New York, Quayle studied at Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.), University of Cincinnati (M.M.), and New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science (Ph.D.).