Matt Richardson
Matt Richardson is a Freelance Violinist/Violist and teacher in the DC Metropolitan area. He frequently performs with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, The National Philharmonic, the New Orchestra of Washington, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, The Williamsburg Symphony, Maryland Lyric Opera, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, among others. Other orchestral experience includes performances with the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, the Virginia Opera, Opera on the James, the Mark Morris Dance Company, the International Chamber Orchestra of Washington, the Castleton Festival, the Cathedral Choral Society Orchestra, the Apollo Orchestra, and the American Festival Pops Orchestra. A frequent chamber musician, Matt is also a founding member of the 9th Street Quartet, the faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the Crescendo Chamber Music Program. He can be found performing in numerous DC venues including, The Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Millennium Stage, The Washington National Cathedral, The Music Center at Strathmore, The Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria, The Washington Masonic Memorial, The Church of the Holy City (DC) and many others.
Additionally, Matthew has been an active violin teacher and clinician in the Northern Virginia area since 2007, maintaining a private studio out of his home in Centreville, VA. His students have gone to rank highly in all levels of the American Youth Philharmonic orchestras, the Mclean Youth Orchestra, and the Arlington Philharmonic's “Crescendo” chamber music program, as well as leading sections in the Northern Virginia and North Central Virginia Senior Regional Orchestras, and the Virginia All-State Orchestra. He has also served on the faculty of the Corcoran Chamber Music Institute at George Washington University since 2014, and the GMU Ovations Summer Strings Academy since 2009. Matt's primary teachers include Peter Haase, Zino Bogachek, Karen Johnson, Weigang Li, and Joseph Wargo.
Dr. Michelle Laurent Richardson
Dr. Richardson is a highly active piano teacher, performer, and scholar. She recently received her doctorate in musical arts with a piano performance concentration from George Mason University. Throughout her university years she studied with the renown Russian teacher, Dr. Anna Balakerskaia. Dr. Richardson's thesis, "The Development of the Piano Intermezzo from the 19th to 21st Centuries," was the first study of its kind in the genre of intermezzos for piano music. In March of 2023 she was selected to present her research at the College Music Society's Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference.
Highlights of Michelle's solo and chamber performances include her 2015 solo debut with the George Mason Symphony Orchestra playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Conerto No. 2, chamber recitals at the Lyceum in Alexandria, the “Music with the Angels” Concert series at the Church of the Holy City, Fairfax County “Spotlight on the Arts” festival, as well as at George Mason's All-Steinway Concerts and ARTS By George series. In the summer of 2010, Michelle was invited to attend the Orfeo International Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy. There, she was featured on multiple programs as a soloist and was a finalist in the Orfeo International Music Competition. In May of 2013, Michelle was a featured soloist in the GMU School of Music Honors Recital.
Michelle has a passion for teaching all levels of classical piano music in both a private and group setting. She has prepared students for successful performances in recitals, festivals, competitions, and auditions to their top choice music schools with scholarship. In August of 2015 she was faculty on the Corcoran Chamber Music Institute (formerly known as the Summer Piano and Chamber Music Institute at George Washington University). She has served as a graduate lecturer at George Mason University, teaching keyboard classes from 2015-2017. From 2013-2021 Michelle was a teaching artist faculty member of the Mason Community Arts Academy where she she founded the Mason Summer Piano Academy in 2016.
Currently, Michelle teaches from her home studio and continues to participate in summer programs through Mason Arts Academy. Additionally, she regularly collaborates with instrumentalists, vocalists, and choirs throughout Northern VA.
