- Home
- About
- Ensembles
- Degrees & Programs
- Faculty & Staff
- Students
Dr. Matthew Darling
Matthew Darling is an Associate Professor of Music at California State University Fresno, where he has taught and headed the percussion area since 1991, and served as interim chair of the Department of Music from spring 2005 to spring 2006. In addition to teaching, Darling actively performs as a percussionist/timpanist in many organizations. He is principal timpanist/percussionist with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in Nevada City (CA), interim principal timpanist with the Sacramento Choral Society, percussionist with the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra, and principal percussionist with the Fresno based Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. He also performs regularly with the Fresno Philharmonic and Sacramento Philharmonic, and has performed professionally with several other orchestras including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Modesto Symphony, and Bear Valley Music Festival Orchestra. As a soloist he has recently appeared with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, as well as the Percussion Ensembles at University of South Dakota, University of Arizona, University of New Mexico and Sacramento State. Darling has also performed as a percussionist/drummer with a wide variety of artists and productions, including Chuck Berry, Dionne Warwick, Bill Conti, and regional stops of national tour musical productions of Singin' in the Rain and The Producers.
An avid supporter of new music for percussion, Dr. Darling has been involved with the premiere of dozens of solo and chamber works. Recently premiered works include: Neurotica (2008) for solo flute and three percussion by Dr. Kenneth Froelich and dedicated to Dr. Beaman (flute) and Dr. Darling; Accidental Migration for solo marimba and percussion ensemble by Dr. Froelich, which was commissioned by the Fresno State Percussion Ensemble and won first prize in Percussive Arts Society's 2007 composition competition; Nyumbani (2008), a commissioned three movement work for solo marimba by Mark Vance dedicated to Dr. Darling; Braided River Nights (2006) for flute and marimba by Howard Hersh, dedicated to Dr. Darling and Jane Lenoir and recorded on Albany Records; A Little D 'n' A for Percussion Ensemble (2007), dedicated to Dr. Darling and the Fresno State Percussion Ensemble by Dr. Gary Gilroy; Bird of Paradise (2007), a trio for flute, viola, and marimba by Fresno composer Brad Hufft; and Homing Instinct (2008), a percussion quartet by Fresno State student composer Joungmin Sur. He has appeared as an adjudicator, clinician, performer, and/or presenter throughout the United States at festivals, universities, state and international music conventions, including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), CMEA, and CBDA. In addition to the above, he is the Interim President of the California Chapter of Percussive Arts Society. Darling holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Arizona, a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Sacramento State.