Matthew F. Reese is an American conductor active on both sides of the Atlantic. He currently conducts the Washington Young Sinfonia and was most recently music director of the English chamber orchestra, Consortium Novum. In his three years with CN, the ensemble was active on both the concert platform and in the opera pit, with a repertory ranging from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro to Stravinsky’s Petrushka, and Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung. He concluded his CN tenure with a charity performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in aid of homelessness relief. 

A recipient of Oxford’s conducting prize, Matthew has held the Music Directorships of the Oxford University Philharmonia (2016–17), the Oxford University Wind Orchestra (2015–16), and The Choir of Pusey House (2017–18). In 2016, he was named the University’s inaugural Conducting Scholar, assistant-conducting the St. Anne’s Camerata. Matthew has studied conducting under the Celibidache student, Angel Gil-Ordóñez (PostClassical), Paul Spicer (Finzi Singers), Akiko Fujimoto (Minnesota Orchestra), and with the Haydn scholar, James Armstrong (William & Mary).

Matthew holds degrees from the College of William & Mary (BA) and the University of Oxford (M.Phil, 2016; D.Phil, 2020). He is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Musicology at the Peabody Institute and The Johns Hopkins University, as well as cover conductor for the National Orchestral Institute. Recent assistantships include the Georgetown University Symphony Orchestra and the Annapolis Symphony Academy.   

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In addition to his work as a conductor, Matthew is also a cellist and a tenor. He holds a Lay Clerkship at the Episcopal church of Grace & St. Peter's, Baltimore, and regularly deputizes with the Choirs of Men and Boys, and Men and Girls at Washington National Cathedral.