Born in southern California, Matt Woodard has spent most of his life in the state of Washington. Growing up in Issaquah, part of the greater Seattle area, he currently lives in Vancouver with his wife, Kandice, and their daughters. Matt graduated from Central Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition from Central’s music department, where he studied under Dr. Neil Flory, Dr. Elaine Ross, and Dr. Eric Flesher. While attending CWU, Matt sang in the Central Washington University Chamber Choir as well as Central’s premier vocal jazz ensemble, Vocal Jazz I.
Matt was the 2009 undergraduate level winner of the Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble Student Choral Composition Award. Opus 7, a Seattle based professional choral group, is one of the premier choirs in the region. Along with a cash prize, the winnings included a performance of the winning piece, “Sanctus,” at Opus 7’s All Northwest concert.
In 2013, Matt completed a Masters of Music degree in choral conducting from CWU with a secondary focus in composition. In May of that year, he premiered his first choral symphony, “The Bells”, set to a text of the same name written by Edgar Allan Poe.
Matt is now the Digital Media Arts teacher in Catlin Gabel School‘s high school division, where he teaches songwriting, music production, interactive multimedia, podcasting, photography, video production, and other digital media.