Boston Conservatory at Berklee Announces Matthew M. Marsit as Chair of Instrumental Studies

Boston Conservatory at Berklee announces the appointment of conductor and clarinetist Matthew M. Marsit (M.M. '12, orchestral conducting) as chair of instrumental studies, a position which oversees all instrumental areas within the Conservatory’s Music Division under the direction of Dean of Music Michael Shinn. Marsit’s appointment begins this fall. He will join colleagues Patty Thom, chair of voice, and Jonathan Bailey Holland, chair of composition, contemporary music, and core studies.

For the better part of the last decade, Marsit has led ensembles and performed as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician throughout the United States. He is the director of bands for the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts at Dartmouth College, music director of the Charles River Wind Ensemble, and assistant conductor of Symphony Nova. He previously held a number of conducting positions at Ithaca College, Cornell University, and Drexel University, among others.

In addition to being an alumnus of Boston Conservatory, Marsit is uniquely positioned for this role due to his active involvement in the creation and performance of new music, as well as being an advocate for “music as a vehicle for service,” having a vast background in charitable efforts through music.

“I am thrilled to welcome Matthew to the Conservatory as the leader of Instrumental Studies. He will be a huge asset to us because he embodies our core values of artistic integrity, creating pathways through new music, and giving back to the community,” said Boston Conservatory at Berklee Dean of Music Michael Shinn. “With this new and exciting era of the Conservatory, Matthew is the perfect person to lead the way towards innovative pedagogy through a global and social lens.”

Offering undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degree programs, instrumental studies is the largest degree-granting area of the Music Division and the Conservatory as a whole. The Music Division presents more than 450 performances each year featuring students, faculty, and guest artists in venues on campus and in the greater Boston area.

Prior to earning his M.M. in orchestral conducting from Boston Conservatory, Marsit completed studies in music at Temple University, under the tutelage of Anthony Gigliotti and Ronald Reuben, and conducting with Luis Biava and Arthur Chodoroff. Additionally, Marsit studied conducting with some of the world’s most prominent instructors, including Mark Davis Scatterday of the Eastman School of Music, Timothy Reynish of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, and Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

Learn more about Matthew Marsit and Boston Conservatory’s music degree programs.