Matthew Sadowski
Guest Wind Symphony Conductor
Dr. Matthew Sadowski was appointed as Director of Bands at the University of California, Berkeley in June 2018, where he now conducts the University Wind Ensemble and directs the Cal Marching Band. As an avid instrumental music conductor, chamber ensemble enthusiast, and interdisciplinary collaborator, Sadowski (or simply “Matt”) earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He also holds music degrees from Ithaca College (Ithaca, New York – MM Wind Conducting) and Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan – BM Music Education). His foremost conducting teachers include Cynthia Johnston Turner of the University of Georgia, and Stephen Peterson of the University of Illinois.
Matthew has taught up and down the West Coast, first directing high school band programs in Newport and Beaverton, Oregon and Federal Way, Washington from 2008 to 2013. He is a fervent supporter of K-12 music education programs, and is proud to have served as a founding member of the community advocacy group Beaverton Friends of Music in 2011, which has successfully reversed cuts made to Beaverton school music programs and continues to strengthen and protect access to music programs for all Beaverton School District students.
Several of Matthew’s former students have gone on to attend top music schools and become music educators themselves, while others perform as musicians in the United States Army and Navy Bands. Matthew performed on euphonium with the Southwest Washington Wind Symphony in Camas, Washington for three years, and served a two-year term as Vice President of the Northwest Association for the Performing Arts.
Since 2014, Matthew has taught conducting and music theory to middle and high school students at the Ithaca College Summer Music Academy, and has served as the Program Coordinator for the Wind Division since 2016. While a student at Ithaca, he was honored with an invitation to conduct at the 2015 Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music, and appeared as a guest conductor with the Auburn Chamber Orchestra in Auburn, New York in the same year. In 2017, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Gwinnett County Youth Wind Symphony in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Outside of music, Matthew enjoys running, cooking, visiting National Parks, amateur iPhone photography, and traveling to visit family and friends. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), California Music Educators Association (CMEA), College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Pi Kappa Lambda (PKL) Music Honor Society, the Blue Key Honor Society, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi (KKP) Music Service Fraternity.
