Executive Director, PIM Arts High School, Minneapolis, MN
Music Director, Discovery United Methodist Church, Chanhassen, MN
A musician of diverse abilities and interests, Matt McFarlane has been a part of the Bay View Music Festival since 1998. McFarlane studied Music Education at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA and dual majored in Piano and Trombone. After teaching instrumental music at the Lamoni School District, he pursued a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Coaching from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. New York performances have included choral performances in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center as a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir. As a member of the Minnesota Chorale, McFarlane has performed with the Minnesota Chorale at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and The Ordway in Saint Paul. His teachers have included Dalton Baldwin and JJ Penna. Conductors have included Osmo Vanska, Joseph Flummerfelt, Kurt Masur, and Colin Davis. Matt has accompanied in many voice studios, including those of Martha J. Hart and Sharon Sweet. Master Classes have included Diana Soviero, Virgina Zeani, George Shirley, William Preucil, and the Scholars of London. When not at Bay View, he spends time as the co-director of music with his wife Molly at Discovery Methodist Church in Chanhassen and spends his school year at the Main Street School of Performing Arts wrangling high school musicians.