Matthew Whitaker
Born in 2001, Matthew Whitaker’s love for playing music began at age three, after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard. At nine, he began teaching himself how to play the Hammond B3 organ; only four years later, he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond in its 89-year history. He was also named a Yamaha Artist at age 15, becoming the youngest musician to join that stellar group of jazz pianists.
Whitaker has toured both in the US and abroad, performing on prestigious stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, SF Jazz Center, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, and at prestigious international venues in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, to name a few.
His television appearances include Fox’s Showtime at the Apollo, NBC’s Today, the syndicated TV talk show Ellen, and CBS’ 60 Minutes.
In both 2019 and 2020, Whitaker won the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award for his original compositions. His film scores include Matthew Whitaker: About Tomorrow (All Arts TV, 2022; producer, musical director, arranger, and original score) and Starkeisha (ESPN’s Andscape, 2022; original score). He was the music director for Billy Strayhorn: Something To Live For (world premiere, September 2023, Pittsburgh Public Theater) and his discography includes Outta The Box (2017, Jazz Foundation of America), Now Hear This (2019, Resilience Music Alliance), and Connections (2022, Resilience Music Alliance).