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Matt Dardick is a saxophonist in Washington, D.C. who aims to contribute to the arts through performance, collaboration and education. Dardick recently completed Master of Music degrees in Saxophone Performance and Improvisation at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance under world renowned artist teachers Dr. Timothy McAllister and Dr. Andrew Bishop. Previous to his studies in Ann Arbor, Dardick attained a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance—under Professor Taimur Sullivan—as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Global History at Northwestern University. Now local to Washington, DC, Matt is currently building a private studio in the DMV area. 

During his teenage years in Chicagoland and his undergraduate years at Northwestern, Dardick performed on stages such as Studebaker Hall and the Chicago Jazz Festival at Millennium Park. In high school, Dardick studied with Roger Birkeland and the late Mark Colby—applied faculty members at Elmhurst College. Before attending Northwestern, Matt won second place in both the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra Robert Stanger Young Artists Competition and the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition; Matt performed Paule Maurice’s Tableaux de Provence with the SVSO in the spring of 2019. 

As a first year undergraduate at Northwestern, Dardick co-founded Lati2de. Hailed by August Reed Thomas as “excellent musicians and artists who play with nuance, grace and technical mastery,” Lati2de is an Ann Arbor-based chamber ensemble dedicated to the expansion and diversification of repertoire for the saxophone duo. Since its formation in November 2018, Lati2de has commissioned more than 10 composers and brought their works to venues across the United States such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Peabody Institute. Lati2de has also led two separate saxophone duo consortiums to commission composers to write works that have a multi-media or interdisciplinary aspect: Dialogues by Andrew Faulkenberry for two alto saxophones and fixed media to be performed virtually during the 2020 COVID pandemic and an unlikely flock: bird-haiku for soprano and alto saxophone by Nelson Walker. 

Alongside recitals given at over 10 universities, Dardick has given masterclasses and talks on topics such as performance, saxophone pedagogy and practice techniques. During the 2023-24 academic year, Matt occupied the Saxophone Instructor role at Belleville High School and instructed a private studio of 11 saxophone students across various ensembles in Van Buren Public Schools. 

Dardick played the baritone saxophone in a saxophone quartet of graduate students both years of his Masters’ studies. Both iterations of the quartet competed in contentious national forums such as the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Now immersing himself in the broader musical world of the DMV area, Matt has played venues from the Eighteenth Street Lounge to the Atlas Theatre. He has also become a regular member of the jazz scene in D.C., holding a weekly residency with his chordless trio at Code Red Speakeasy in Adams Morgan. Matt is excited to bring his skills and love of music to Musicfully.