Matthew Gifford
Matthew Gifford began his collegiate education at Western Michigan University studying voice with Dr. Ken Prewitt. While there, he served as a section leader for the University Chorale, which premiered the new choral work Contemplating Weather by Paul Lansky and recorded the album Ex Corde during his time with the choir. His opera credits at Western Michigan include Eddie Fisher in Cleo, Amelia’s Lover in Amelia Goes to the Ball, and Mr. Splinters in Copland’s The Tender Land. He graduated Magna Cum Laude as an Evelyn Rosen Hart scholar from Western Michigan with his Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education.
Mr. Gifford is earned a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from Texas Christian University where he studied with J. David Brock. He worked as a graduate assistant for the university’s general music appreciation and vocal pedagogy classes and taught voice lessons to students there as well. While at TCU, he performed the roles of Gherardo in the university’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In addition to his opera credits, Mr. Gifford has performed as a tenor soloist in Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, Handel’s Messiah, and Vaughan William’s Serenade to Music. He has sung in master classes for eminent sopranos Barbara Bonney and Ruth Ann Swenson and coached with director David Gately. Mr. Gifford has regularly attended National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) conventions both in Texas and Michigan and has adjudicated auditions for the local Dallas/Fort Worth chapter.
