Matt Belzer, Director of the Jazz Studies program and Teaching Professor in the Department of Music, has been awarded the 2025 CIRCA-IMET Artist-in-Residence Fellowship. During his residency, Matt will consult with scientists at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) to understand sensory systems, comparative life spans, and other biological and behavioral processes to create The Ocean is Aware, a proposed composed suite for an ensemble of creative musicians and a live performance. The musical material within the suite would be drawn from insights about the way sea life interacts with its environment, their perception of time, and their awareness of humans and each other. This performance could be documented as an audio-video recording with the potential for later exhibition.
Matt Belzer has had a colorful musical life. By age 22, he had received two degrees from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, having studied with Bill Dobbins, Fred Sturm, and Ramon Ricker. Since then, Matt has dedicated himself to projects ranging from traditional jazz to noise punk rock, R&B, contemporary chamber music, and modern creative jazz. In addition to his numerous projects, he is a very active freelance musician, regularly performing on woodwinds at the Kennedy Center, the National Theatre, and various theaters and concert halls in the region. He has performed with artists including Smokey Robinson, Hugh Jackman, Chaka Khan, Barry Manilow, Bernadette Peters, Ariana DeBose and Renée Fleming. His compositions are published on Advance Music, UNC Jazz Press, and his own Matobelu Music. He has been honored by Downbeat magazine, the Jazz Composers Alliance and the Maryland State Arts Council. Most recently, he is a member of the Afro-Cuban jazz group the Anansi Trio and has released two albums featuring his original work. Matt is the Director of Jazz Studies at UMBC where he directs the jazz ensemble, teaches jazz courses, teaches saxophone, and collaborates with faculty and students.