Riggen counts the main components in his musical career as the ensembles he has founded, co-founded, or conducted.
These include conventional jazz quintets (Matt Riggen Quintet), chordless projects built specifically to play free jazz (OGC), and large-ensemble social protest groups (Liberation Music Collective).
His ability to put the right personnel into the same room to make a specific project work is consistently evident
(for example, as with Ouija Board, nights of improvisers thrown into completely new groups curated by Riggen at Slate Arts).
Riggen's ability to draw energy out of and spur on his ensembles makes them stronger than the sum of their parts, and his intensity is rewarded with his ensembles responding in kind.
Such ability has also led to invitations to guest conduct other large ensembles, such as the Sean Imboden Large Ensemble of Indianapolis.
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As of October 2017, Riggen is now the Director of Music at Marquette Park in Chicago.
He works in the historic neighborhood's Cultural Center to provide private musical instruction to its residents, organize recitals of his students,
and put on large-ensemble performances of repertoire from Marquette Park's musical library (compiled over the past 70 years).
His role lies somewhere between artist-in-residence, band director, repairman, facilitator, and adjunct lecturer.
As the Director, he currently teaches beginning-to-intermediate lessons on the clarinet family, the saxophones, trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drumset.
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Currently, Riggen is actively directing two small groups which perform his originals and arrangements:
the Matt Riggen Quartet (Will Barnard, River Adomeit, Tommy Carroll) and the Matt Riggen Brass Quartet (Connor Eisenmenger, David Fletcher, Emily Kuhn).
The quartet performs material derived from the long tradition of Chicago free jazz, and the brass quartet performs material from a third-stream tradition.
These include conventional jazz quintets (Matt Riggen Quintet), chordless projects built specifically to play free jazz (OGC), and large-ensemble social protest groups (Liberation Music Collective).
His ability to put the right personnel into the same room to make a specific project work is consistently evident
(for example, as with Ouija Board, nights of improvisers thrown into completely new groups curated by Riggen at Slate Arts).
Riggen's ability to draw energy out of and spur on his ensembles makes them stronger than the sum of their parts, and his intensity is rewarded with his ensembles responding in kind.
Such ability has also led to invitations to guest conduct other large ensembles, such as the Sean Imboden Large Ensemble of Indianapolis.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of October 2017, Riggen is now the Director of Music at Marquette Park in Chicago.
He works in the historic neighborhood's Cultural Center to provide private musical instruction to its residents, organize recitals of his students,
and put on large-ensemble performances of repertoire from Marquette Park's musical library (compiled over the past 70 years).
His role lies somewhere between artist-in-residence, band director, repairman, facilitator, and adjunct lecturer.
As the Director, he currently teaches beginning-to-intermediate lessons on the clarinet family, the saxophones, trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drumset.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently, Riggen is actively directing two small groups which perform his originals and arrangements:
the Matt Riggen Quartet (Will Barnard, River Adomeit, Tommy Carroll) and the Matt Riggen Brass Quartet (Connor Eisenmenger, David Fletcher, Emily Kuhn).
The quartet performs material derived from the long tradition of Chicago free jazz, and the brass quartet performs material from a third-stream tradition.
Performing with alto saxophonist Jafet C. at Marquette Park Listening Party, Spring '18
Supporting a political protest with a student volunteer, Fall '19
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Helping deep-listening artist Anna Wolfe-Pauly with an exercise derived from Pauline
Oliveros' work in a workshop for students & parents, Fall '18
Performing at Pilsen Holiday Market with student ensemble, Winter '19
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Conducting the Chamber Ensemble of Marquette Park, Fall '19
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