"My intent is for both improvised and composed music to evolve simultaneously on organic parallel paths."
Matthew Levy (b. 1963) is a saxophonist, composer, and producer whose performance practice and compositions bridge modern classical music with rhythmic and improvisatory aspects of jazz, guided by his dedication to exploring the saxophone's genre-defying capabilities. Levy has been hailed by The Saxophone Journal as "a complete virtuoso of the tenor saxophone" and by The New York Times for his "energetic and enlivening" performances. As a founder and co-artistic director of the renowned PRISM Quartet, Levy has commissioned and premiered works by preeminent composers such as Julia Wolfe, Jennifer Higdon, William Albright, Steven Mackey, and Greg Osby. He has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dolce Suono Ensemble, counter)induction, and Ensemble 21, among many others, and his compositions are featured on four PRISM recordings on the Koch and innova labels. Levy has received composition fellowships from the Independence Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and American Composers Forum. He holds a MM from the University of Michigan, and serves as saxophone instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and at Temple University.
