MATTHEW DIRST

Matthew Dirst, Professor and Head of Musicology at the Moores School, enjoys a varied career as an organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist. His teaching, research, and performing activities range widely, with a particular focus on music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially that of J. S. Bach. His publications include Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn (Cambridge University Press, 2012); Bach and the Organ, editor (University of Illinois Press, 2016); and Bach’s Art of Fugue and Musical Offering (Oxford University Press, 2023). The 2012 monograph, in the words of one prominent reviewer, is “a compelling and readable survey, one marked by clarity, judgement, and nuance” (Early Music). His most recent book combines “impeccable scholarship, deep understanding of performance issues, and obvious reverence for the music” (Choice Reviews).

Widely admired for his stylish performances as well, Dirst is the Founder and Artistic Director of the period instrument ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston. His most recent solo recording, of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (Acis), is “full of sentiment but avoids sentimentality, capturing the music’s dignity and pathos” (Early Music America). Another reviewer notes that his playing “sounds like great conducting…the musicians are his own fingers…his command of the ‘big picture’ is terrific for repeated listening” (American Record Guide). Dirst’s recordings with Ars Lyrica include several modern world premieres, including Alessandro Scarlatti’s 1710 oratorio La Sposa dei Cantici and Johann Adolph Hasse’s 1725 serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra. The latter recording was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera in 2011.

Recent appearances include recitals and concerts for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists; a series of solo performances throughout North America of Bach’s Art of Fugue; solo and ensemble programs for the Berkeley Early Music Festival; and touring performances with Ars Lyrica on series in New York, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, San Diego, Tulsa, San Antonio, and Tucson. Recent guest conducting engagements include programs with the Academia de Música Antigua UNAM in Mexico City, Ars Minerva in San Francisco, the Portland Baroque Orchestra and Trinity Cathedral Choir, and the Washington Bach Consort.