Matthew Baker - Baryton

Matthew Baker is a versatile instrumentalist performing in styles ranging from jazz to classical, celtic to tango, and most other things in between. Originally from the USA, Matt has lived in Valencia, Spain since 2006 working as a double bassist in the Palau de les Arts (opera of Valencia), which was founded by Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta as well as teaching jazz and contemporary music at Berklee College of Music Valencia.

Matt has performed throughout the world with numerous ensembles and received accolades from publications such as The Strad, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Ritmo amongst many others for his performances and also for recordings on over 30 albums. With his string quintet, the Elan Quintet, Matt has done world premiere recordings of 7 quintets by the French Romantic Era composer, George Onslow in a cycle by Naxos Records rediscovering Onslow’s beautiful quintet music with double bass. He also performs on the rare instrument, the baryton, in his chamber trio, the Valencia Baryton Project, which has recorded 2 CDs for Naxos and having had full length articles written in both the Strad and Ritmo about his endeavors to resurrect this instrument.

As a jazz performer, Matt has shared the stage playing double bass with legends such as Bob Mintzer, Victor Wooten, Clark Terry, and many others. In 2019, Matt performed the world’s first concert of jazz baryton and has since then pushed the boundaries of the instrument to work on experimental electronic music with French pianist and composer, Baptiste Bailly and Italian electronic music artist, IMGL.

In other styles, Matt has been credited as one of the pioneers of Celtic Jazz in the late 90s with Catriona McKay, has toured the world with the theatrical string septet, Gogmagogs, and currently performs tango with the last living member of Astor Piazzolla’s legendary sextet, Daniel Binelli.

Matt is and ambassador to Schertler Electronics and is an endorser for Wiedoeft Rosin.