Dr. Matthew Sebald displays a bold performance presence and has been praised as a “dedicated musician.” Some of his accolades to date include the Collaborative Pianist Award at the 2025 Art Song Colorado Competition, winner of the 2016 Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra Concerto competition and UND’s 2015 Mozart Piano Concerto competition, runner-up for the 2017 Greater Grand Forks Concerto Competition, and UND’s Presser Scholar Award for 2017-2018. With over a decade of experience, Matthew’s musicianship is frequently sought after as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach.

As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Sebald plays with instrumentalists and vocalists of all ages and abilities. His professional engagements have included Voices of the Wild recital (featuring 2025, Art Song Colorado competition winner Dr. Alice Del Simone), continuo player for the New Mexico Performing Arts Society’s performances of Bach’s St. John Passion in 2024 and a trip to the XVIII World Saxophone Congress in 2018 in Croatia where he collaborated with Dr. Scott Sandberg (UND) in the premiere of Catherine McMichael’s “Duality” for tenor saxophone and piano. In fall of 2016, while still in his undergraduate degree, he collaborated with Professor Eric High, a professional bass/contrabass trombonist, on a guest faculty recital. Dr. Sebald has also proven himself to be an accomplished solo pianist. He performed solo recitals each of his undergraduate years, in addition to concertos with the UND Chamber Orchestra and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra. He competed in 2015 at the regional level of the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Artist Competition in Wichita Kansas. His primary teachers throughout his studies have included Dr. Margaret McDonald, Dr. Alexandra Nguyen, and Dr. Nariaki Sugiura. Additionally, Dr. Sebald has performed in master classes conducted by Martin Katz, Margo Garrett, Anne Epperson, John Churchwell, Lydia Artymiw, Dr. Alan Chow, Dr. Siyoun Lin, Mihaela Tomi, Dr. Laura Lowen, Dr. Jihye Chang, and John Clodfelter. Matthew's ensemble experiences include CU Boulder’s Symphonic Band 2024 and 2025, CU Boulder’s Chamber Singers 2021-2022, CU Boulder’s Symphony Orchestra 2020-2021, the UND Chamber Orchestra 2017-2018, and the Red River Trio 2016-2017. He has also served as a rehearsal pianist for three Eklund Opera productions 2022-2023 and CU NOW’s 2025 presentation of the first act of Mark Adamo’s Sarah in the Theatre.

Dr. Sebald holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree from the University of North Dakota, a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from CU Boulder. His research in CU Boulder’s doctoral program culminated in a guidebook for beginning vocal coaches, equipping them with practical tools that complement the existing literature in this field. Currently, Matthew is the pianist for the choirs at Altona Middle School, the Boulder Children’s Chorale, and Viva Voce (Longmont Chorale). He is also a member of Duo Cordifolia, a professional duo with Dr. Alice del Simone, soprano. When not playing piano, Matthew can be found reading or playing board games with friends and his wife, Melody.