Dr. Matthew Ferrell is professor of music at St. Cloud State University. In this position he conducts the SCSU Concert Choir and Chamber Singers and teaches courses in conducting and musicianship. Prior to his appointment at SCSU, he served as Director of Choral Activities at Brooklyn College, Conservatory of Music and previously taught high school choir in New Lebanon, NY. As Associate Conductor of the Master Chorale of South Florida, Dr. Ferrell assisted in the preparation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra and conducted the Boca Raton Symphonia in several performances.
Under Dr. Ferrell’s direction, the St. Cloud State University Concert Choir has performed at multiple state and divisional conferences, and has toured internationally to Ireland and South Africa. Dr. Ferrell maintains an active schedule as clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor for choral festivals and conferences in Minnesota and around the country. He is an active member of several professional organizations, and serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and Associate Editor and Chair for the NCCO Choral Music Series.
Dr. Ferrell has been awarded conducting fellowships through prominent institutions, and was recently selected as one of six conductors nationally to represent the U.S. in a conductor exchange with South Korea. Through these organizations and other master classes he has studied under many renowned conductors including Dale Warland, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Porco, Weston Noble, Charles Bruffy, James Jordan and Marin Alsop. Dr. Ferrell received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Miami (a student of Jo-Michael Scheibe). He received a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Temple University and Bachelor of Music in Music Education from The Hartt School.