Canadian trombonist Matthew Russell is an engaging performer, acclaimed for trombone playing of great beauty, rich sonority, and eloquent phrasing. With his strongly lyrical approach, he is a versatile artist, equally comfortable performing solo, chamber and orchestral music. 

He has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Sarasota Opera, the Savannah Philharmonic, the Youngstown Symphony, and the Niagara Symphony, to name just a few. As a soloist, Matthew was twice a finalist in the Concours Prix d’Europe (Montreal) and was a laureate at the Concours OSM Standard Life. He was also a finalist in the Canadian Music Competition on multiple occasions. In 2022, Matthew received his DMA from Rutgers University. He obtained his MMus from Carnegie Mellon University, an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School, and his BMus from McGill University. His principal teachers were Weston Sprott, Peter Sullivan, David Martin, Gordon Wolfe, James Box and Vivian Lee. 

A passionate advocate of new music, Matthew has performed on many occasions with NO HAY BANDA, including a tour through Québec Musiques Parallèles and a performance at Festival International de Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. He was also a fellow at the 2019 Bang on a Can Summer Festival.

Over the course of his career, Matthew has been the recipient of multiple generous grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. Through the noncerto YouTube channel, Matthew was featured in 21 music videos, many of which feature Canadian works for trombone in premiere recordings.  He was also featured in the CBC’s 2017 edition of 30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30.