Matthew Brand is an 11th grader at Horace Mann School. Matthew began his piano studies with Donna Weng Friedman in 2013. He studies classical piano, composition, music theory, ear training, and jazz at Mannes Prep in the Scholar's Program. Matthew studies composition with Dr. Steven Sacco and plays in the jazz ensemble at Mannes under the direction of Martin Shapiro. Matthew also studies jazz and composition with Adam Dyer in London, England. He studies songwriting and vocal performance with Jason Pomerantz, and from April to July 2024, he wrote, produced, and recorded a self-titled 5 song EP of original Pop-Rock music at Smash Studios Midtown, receiving over 20,000 streams across all platforms. He has also participated in programs such as Interlochen Center For the Arts, the Litchfield Jazz Camp, the Manhattan School of Music’s Jazz Composition and Performance program, and studies jazz guitar with Joe Ravo. Throughout his high school career starting in 2022, Matthew won the Progressive Musicians Concerto Competition (2022) and performed the First Movement of the Haydn Concerto in D Major with his original jazz cadenza at Weill Carnegie Hall with the New York Chamber Players’ Orchestra under Maestro Giacomo Franci. More recently in 2024, Matthew wrote a jazz-inspired concerto for piano and orchestra called “Fusion Fantasy” and was chosen as a Finalist at the Mannes Prep Concerto Competition. He also hosts an annual Charity Rock concert at Horace Mann called “UrbanAid” and plays rock and jazz gigs throughout New York, including the Mercury Lounge, Stephen Talkhouse, and the Delancey.