Matthew Mehaffey

Matthew Mehaffey is associate professor of music at the University of Minnesota, where he conducts the University Singers and Men's Chorus, and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting and choral literature. He is also the artistic director of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, a role he assumed in 2008. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mehaffey holds degrees from Bucknell University (BM), Westminster Choir College (MM), and the University of Arizona (DMA). He has also served on the faculties of The George Washington University and Macalester College. Recent professional conducting engagements include work with Washington National Opera, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, VocalEssence, Minnesota Chorale, Air America Radio, and Turner Network Television. He is in frequent demand as a lecturer on rehearsal technique and as a guest conductor. An advocate for the education of young singers, Mehaffey leads a program called VIVA CORO, which provides opportunities for young singers to sing choral masterpieces with professional orchestra; he has edited three volumes of the series Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir for GIA Publications. He is co-author of a chapter on American choral music for the forthcoming book, The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music. Additionally, he serves as Director of Music at Hamline United Methodist Church in St. Paul.