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About

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"Commanding stage presence, intimate expression, and inventive interpretation" 
Soundboard

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"Strong, nuanced, and textured performance with compelling dynamics and a beautiful sound" Classical Guitar Magazine

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"[Cochran's] work features a wide variety of textures from melodic exchanges, intricate kaleidoscopic grooves, to spacious mediations." This is Classical Guitar

American guitarist, composer, and producer Matthew Cochran is establishing a bold new repertoire for the guitar in the 21st century. Cochran’s music combines elements of romanticism, minimalism, and popular music, and No Depression raves, “The pure emotive quality of Cochran’s music pulls you into its embrace and empties your heart with every note,” and This is Classical Guitar praises Cochran’s “wide variety of textures from melodic exchanges, intricate kaleidoscopic grooves, to spacious mediations.”

 

Cochran’s music is being performed by a growing list of leading concert artists and ensembles. Recent works include Pale Blue Dot for guitar duo,  Landscape with False Memory for guitar and string quartet, Three Inward Glances and Two Young Fish for solo guitar (commissioned by Stephen Mattingly), Hope Begins in the Dark for electric guitar and electronics, (commissioned by Tom Clippinger and Chase Bliss Audio), Winter Was Hard for guitar ensemble (written for the 2025 Mid-America Guitar Ensemble Festival), Testament, a solo guitar piece commissioned by Matthew McAllister, and Like a Bird on the Wing, commissioned by Stewart Kelly. Cochran’s music is published by Les Editions d’Oz and Sacred Black Publications.

 

Praised for his “commanding stage presence, intimate expression and inventive interpretation” (Soundboard) and "Strong, nuanced, textured performances with compelling dynamics and a beautiful sound” (Classical Guitar Magazine), Cochran has performed in North American festivals, universities, and series, including the Guitar Foundation of America, Weill Hall, New York Guitar Seminar, Mostly Music Chicago, Peabody Conservatory, Eastman School of Music,  Oberlin College, University of Louisville, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Mannes School of Music, Austin Peay University, Stetson University, and Acadia International Guitar Festival (Canada). Cochran’s U.K. performances include appearances at the Crail Festival, Classical Guitar Retreat, and Big Guitar Weekend at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland. Cochran’s European performances include ÅšlÄ…ska JesieÅ„ Gitarowa (Poland), German festivals including Internationales Gitarren-Festival Iserlohn, Halein International Guitar Festival, and the Nürtingen International Guitar Festival.

 

Matthew Cochran often performs with Scottish virtuoso Matthew McAllister. Cochran & McAllister premiered as a duo in 2023 with tours in Scotland and the Midwestern United States. The pair quickly established themselves as a major voice in the guitar world through a combination of unique, accessible programming and warm, easygoing onstage rapport. Cochran & McAllister’s 2025-2026 performance season features expanded engagements in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Cochran & McAllister’s debut album, Pale Blue Dot, is a tribute to astronomer, writer, and science advocate Carl Sagan; This is Classical Guitar raves, “Great playing throughout the album with both virtuosic ensemble performances…always sounding musical, natural, and well settled. The recording quality is also very nice with a warm glowing sound and enough clarity for good separation.”  

 

In 2024, Matthew Cochran founded Sacred Black Records, a classical music label, presenting organization, and publisher dedicated to connecting audiences with world-class musicians through sound recordings, live performances, and publications. The label’s first releases are Cochran & McAllister’s Pale Blue Dot and pianist Kara Huber’s Piano Works of Joan Tower. Upcoming projects include Stephen Mattingly’s ambitious solo guitar project, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the first installment of the solo instrumental works of Benjamin Britten, and Critical Mass, featuring the works of Michigan-based composer Thomas Childs.

 

Cochran’s many recordings, performances, and interviews have been featured on National Public Radio (NPR), British Broadcasting Company (BBC), Radio Poland, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC); podcasts and web series including Gallery of Guitar, One-Track Podcast, Up North Lowdown, Classical Guitar Insider, and This is Classical Guitar; syndicated radio programs such as Latino USA and Classical Guitar Alive; he is a frequent guest on Interlochen Public Radio’s In Studio A, Kids Commute and Great Lakes Concerts. Cochran has recorded masterworks by luminaries such as J.S. Bach, Steve Reich, Manuel de Falla, Johann Pachelbel, Ólafur Arnalds, Max Richter, Enrique Granados, and many others, and he is often sought out by recording artists for his work as an audio and video producer. Cochran wrote, produced, and hosted Goes2Eleven, a popular podcast about the world of the guitar, which reached over 10,000 weekly listeners from 2014-2016.

 

Matthew Cochran frequently collaborates with exciting, original compositional voices, including Steve Reich, Max Richter, Edie Hill, Apostolos Paraskevas, and Jacob Ter Veldhuis, who writes, “I’m so impressed with Matthew’s performance of my music. The sounds he gets out of his guitar are gorgeous, the overall interpretation is splendid, his technique is fabulous, plus the mix is much to my taste. Bravo!!” In 2024, Cochran premiered Sean Hickey’s Arroyo Secco for solo guitar. In 2025, Cochran will premiere Thomas Childs’ Circumvention for solo guitar and Sean Hickey’s Congregate Settings Concerto for guitar and wind ensemble at the Frost School of Music in Miami, FL.

 

Cochran is an in-demand lecturer, ensemble coach, and conductor. He has presented at guitar festivals, performing arts high schools, and colleges throughout the U.S., Europe, and Canada, including the Eastman School of Music, Louden All-County Guitar Festival, and the Classic Art Festival (Serbia). Dr. Cochran is Guitar Instructor at Interlochen Arts Academy, and he directs the Interlochen Classical Guitar Summer Intensive. Dr. Cochran’s students have been awarded scholarships to some of the finest Universities and Conservatories in the U.S., including the Juilliard School, Peabody Institute, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, University of Southern California, Berklee College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Miami, California Institute of the Arts, Oberlin College, Bellmont University, University of Texas Austin, Florida State University, Columbus University, Stetson University, and many more. Dr. Cochran's students have been featured on National Public Radio's From the Top, and performances from the Interlochen Guitar program have been featured on American Public Media's Performance Today.

 

An active member of the classical guitar community, Cochran serves on the Board of Trustees of the Guitar Foundation of America. Cochran holds a Doctorate in Classical Guitar Performance from the Florida State University College of Music and a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Classical Guitar Performance from the Eastman School of Music. His primary teachers were Mark Stewart (Bang On a Can All-Stars, Musical Director for Paul Simon), Bruce Holzman (Florida State University), and Nicholas Goluses (Eastman School of Music).

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