Matthew Worth

(He/Him)
Matthew Worth headshot while sitting at piano

Contact

Departments

Voice / Opera Studies

Courses Taught

Applied Lessons

Vocal Performance Lab

Education

AD, The Juilliard School

MM, Manhattan School of Music

BA, University of Richmond

Ensembles

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Washington National Opera

Santa Fe Opera

Matthew Worth teaches a 1:1 voice lesson with voice student Camryn Finn.

fully powered and persuasively expressive”

— The New York Times

Q&A

What is your hometown?

West Hartford, CT

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Sports! I love all the Boston teams—Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox.

Who were your major teachers?

Thomas Baresel, Marlena Malas, and Jennifer Cable.

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

“Learning is incremental,” and that “anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?

“Why is this relevant to me and to others?”

What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?

It is indicative of my personality that the moment I knew I wanted to be a singer was when I was first told I didn't have the goods to do so.

What was a turning point in your career?

There were a number of acceleration points in my career, including but not limited to my time in the Juilliard Opera Center, my apprenticeship with Glimmerglass Opera, my collaborations with James Levine and Lorin Maazel, and my premieres of works by Kevin Puts, Doug Cuomo, and David T. Little.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Something with tinkering leading to materialization, like a chef or an engineer.

What is your daily practice routine?

I make sure to warm up and then vocalize before I teach, focusing on specific and relevant techniques: coloratura, messa di voce, irregular intervals or rhythms, etc.

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

Bach, Poulenc, and Ives.

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?

Right here, right now.

What is your unrealized project?

A book of vocalises geared toward familiarizing singers with the demands of 21st century repertoire.

Biography

 Matthew Worth is one of the baritones of choice for innovative productions and contemporary works on the operatic leading edge. 

Highlights of recent seasons include the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Boston Lyric Opera, the premiere and recording of the Narrator in Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua, (which later won a GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance) the title role in the world premiere of JFK with Fort Worth Opera, the world premiere of The Manchurian Candidate with Minnesota Opera, and Moby Dick at Washington National Opera.

The child of two elementary school teachers, Worth was born in Hartford, Connecticut, where his first musical love was jazz, and he played the trombone through college. Worth attended University of Richmond (B.A. Music) and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Voice) and is a Juilliard Opera Center graduate. He lives in the Bay Area with his son Fenton, daughter Everly, and their dog Abby. He enjoys hiking, listening to podcasts, and exploring national parks with his kids.