Matt LaRocca is a cross-genre composer, performer, and educator who likes making beautiful sounds - you're just as likely to see him playing with a rock band as conducting an orchestra. He is the Artistic Advisor and Special Project Conductor for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra where he works with all things non-traditional, a professor of composition/theory at the University of Vermont, and the Music Director and Conductor of the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra.
Matt performs on the electric viola (through an array of guitar pedals) with Michael Chorney's psych-rock improvisation ensemble Freeway Clyde and is a frequent collaborator with rock, folk, and electronic musicians. He has written string and orchestral arrangements for and performed with artists such as Guster (his music can be heard on their OMAGAH! album), Grace Potter, Kat Wright, Bill Ellis, Francesca Blanchard, Myra Flynn, Moira Smiley, and more. With a love of improvisation and crossing disciplines, Matt is a regular in the dance world and his collaborators include Jessie Owens and Paul Besaw.
Matt performs on the electric viola (through an array of guitar pedals) with Michael Chorney's psych-rock improvisation ensemble Freeway Clyde and is a frequent collaborator with rock, folk, and electronic musicians. He has written string and orchestral arrangements for and performed with artists such as Guster (his music can be heard on their OMAGAH! album), Grace Potter, Kat Wright, Bill Ellis, Francesca Blanchard, Myra Flynn, Moira Smiley, and more. With a love of improvisation and crossing disciplines, Matt is a regular in the dance world and his collaborators include Jessie Owens and Paul Besaw.