Matthew Thomas Brown (b. 2004) is a composer, conductor, pianist, and organist from Vienna, VA. He received much of his early music training in the liturgical music setting, starting his role as regular pianist/organist at St. Mark Catholic Church (Vienna, VA) at the age of 8. His first forays into composition were arrangements of favorite hymns, soon followed by original settings of psalms and Mass acclamations.

This background sparked Brown’s passion for vocal music. He has written extensively for choral ensembles, including both sacred and secular works. He is the founder and director of the Now Chorale, a new-music choir based in Oberlin, OH, which has commissioned and/or premiered 19 new works in just its first two seasons. He is also an active church choir director at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Oberlin. In January 2025, he made his opera conducting debut with Oberlin Opera Theater’s production of “The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace” by Kamala Sankaram.

Brown finds inspiration for his music in nature, stories, moments in his own life, and religious themes. He is especially interested in chromatic harmony and motivic counterpoint, striving to create layered musical dialogues between all players in a given piece. Recent premieres include “Because a Poet Sang”, a Homeric cantata in eight movements, and “Reel Rebellion,” a groovy concert opener for string orchestra.

Opportunities to bring together his composition and conducting worlds are of special interest to Brown. He frequently assists fellow student composers in bringing their works to the stage, taking up the baton in October 2024 to lead Benjamin Muir’s “Turbulence” for orchestra and, in March 2025, Max Allard’s “Banjo Concerto”.

Brown is in his third year as a music composition major at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studies with Jesse Jones, Stephen Hartke, Michael Frazier, and Soomin Kim. He is also an organ performance minor in the studio of Jonathan Moyer.