Matt Sharrock

Matt Sharrock joined the Conservatory in 2015 and is an instructor of core studies in theory.

As half of the bass clarinet/marimba duo Transient Canvas, he has premiered over 80 pieces and tours extensively in the United States and abroad. He is also a founding member of the Boston Percussion Group and the mixed quartet Hinge. As an orchestral percussionist, Sharrock has performed with some of New England’s finest ensembles, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has performed with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Sound Icon, Boston Musica Viva, Alea III, the Lydian String Quartet, and the Lorelei Ensemble, and has been a featured performer in the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. Since 2013, he has served as music director/conductor for Equilibrium, and in 2017 he became the core percussionist for Ensemble/Parallax, a multimedia ensemble dedicated to the music of the European avant-garde. 

A passionate educator, Sharrock serves on the performance faculty at Bunker Hill Community College in addition to his work in the core studies department at the Conservatory. He has presented his marimba master class Learning to Learn at colleges and universities throughout the country. Dedicated to working with student composers, Transient Canvas was ensemble-in-residence with Boston Conservatory's High School Composition Intensive from 2013 to 2017, and has held residencies with the composition programs at Harvard, Tufts and Northeastern universities, the University of Georgia, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and the Alba Music Festival Composition Program in Alba, Italy.

Sharrock holds an M.M. in marimba performance from Boston Conservatory and a B.M. in music performance (percussion) from Baldwin Wallace University. His primary teachers include Nancy Zeltsman and Jack Van Geem (marimba); Keith Aleo, Josh Ryan, and Sam Solomon (percussion); John Grimes (timpani); Sharan Leventhal (chamber music); and Dwight Oltman (conducting).

He currently resides in Boston and proudly endorses Marimba One marimbas and mallets.

Recent Engagements

• Rockport Chamber Music Festival (Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA, 2018)—featured percussionist on pieces by Tan Dun and Osvaldo Golijov
• Re:Sound (BOP Stop at the Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH, 2018)—featured performers on first annual Re:Sound New Music Festival, Transient Canvas
• Outpost Concert Series (Culver Center for the Arts, Riverside, CA, 2018)—Transient Canvas
• Composers, Inc. (First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA, 2018)—Guest ensemble, Transient Canvas
• Music at the Forefront (Clazel Theatre, Bowling Green, OH, 2017)—Transient Canvas