SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Matt Riggen is a musician from Indianapolis, IN who is currently based in Chicago, IL. Matt performs and records on multiple instruments (including bass clarinet, saxophone, trombone, and tuba), but mainly focuses on trumpet in his own groups. Matt has toured with the Chicago Freedom Ensemble and Durand Jones and the Indications, and has performed in Chicago with groups including Adam Shead’s Adiaphora Orchestra and Los Pleneros de Don Segundo. As a composer, Matt has written for the Chicago Freedom Ensemble in Chicago, for the Sean Imboden Large Ensemble in Indianapolis, and most notably for the Liberation Music Collective—a socially-conscious big band which began performing justice-centric music in 2015. Matt also serves as an educator, specifically as the Director of Music at Marquette Park. This community band program has existed for over half a century. After four years of Matt’s tenure there, it has started to send students to top-flight music colleges all around the country. When not in the streets protesting with the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, Matt is demonstrating on his own time, lending sound and energy to actions in his new home and elsewhere. |
LONG BIOGRAPHY
Matt Riggen’s path to finding a home in music was circuitous at best. Raised in Avon, Indiana, Riggen was heavily involved in all forms of science growing up. Upon arriving at Indiana University as a biology major, Riggen quickly found himself dissatisfied--but simultaneously discovered IU’s jazz program. He developed his trumpet skills to the point where he was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music on his third audition attempt. Having graduated in 2016 from Indiana University with a double major in Biology and Jazz Studies, Matt was a riotous force on several instruments in several ensembles--trombone in the Wayne Wallace Octet, trumpet in the Sean Imboden Quintet, and on occasion even serving as drummer or pianist. Matt Riggen is currently based in Chicago, IL. Matt still performs and records on multiple instruments (now including bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, trombone, and tuba), but mainly focuses on trumpet in his own groups. Matt has toured with the Chicago Freedom Ensemble and Durand Jones and the Indications, and has performed in Chicago with groups including Adam Shead’s Adiaphora Orchestra, Tommy Carroll’s Calculated Discomfort, and Los Pleneros de Don Segundo. Matt Riggen's acumen as a composer for large ensemble earned him a space at the Kunstuniversität Graz. However, he turned it down to continue to work with US-based groups and to protest political powers in the United States. As a large-ensemble composer, Matt has written for the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop in NYC, for the Sean Imboden Large Ensemble in Indianapolis, and most notably for the Liberation Music Collective—a socially-conscious big band which began performing justice-centric music in 2015. Matt also serves as an educator, specifically as the Director of Music at Marquette Park. This community band program has existed for over half a century. After four years of Matt’s tenure there, it has started to send students to top-flight music colleges all around the country. When not in the streets protesting with the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, Matt is demonstrating on his own time, lending sound and energy to actions in his new home and elsewhere. His Brass Quartet, Quartet, or Orchestra can be seen at Elastic Arts, the Hungry Brain, the Empty Bottle, Slate Arts, or any one of a number of fine establishments supporting live art music. |
