Pianist, composer, songwriter and arranger, Matt Herskowitz's multi-faceted career has led to a unique and personal voice in music. His vast experience in classical, jazz, pop and world music has culminated in his newest album, Jerusalem Trilogy (Justin Time Records), featuring Matt's original compositions and arrangements in his signature fusion of contemporary jazz and classical styles, combined with a unique blend of Arab and Jewish musical styles and grooves. Introducing a new kind of chamber music for the 21st century, Jerusalem Trilogy navigates these musical worlds on equal terms with one another, creating a new, yet coherent sound, and requiring performers with a comprehensive mastery of different musical styles and genres. Dave Brubeck wrote to Matt about the recording, “Congratulations! You have transformed the concept of “world” music as I conceived of it half a century ago. You have carried it further than I could inagine back then.” In addition to his jazz trio, the album features violinist Lara St. John, cellist Mike Block, saxophonist/flutist Daniel Schnyder, who also produced the recording, and special guest Bassam Saba on Nay and Oud. The piece was commissioned by the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, and premiered on their series at Victor Borge Hall in April 2009. The group has since performed Jerusalem Trilogy all over the world, including the El Paso Chamber Music Festival, Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, the Bremen International Musikfest, the Warsaw Singera Festival, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Matt's 2007 solo piano release, Matt Herskowitz Plays George Gershwin, featuring Matt's original solo arrangements of the Concerto in F and Cuban Overture, as well as Gershwin's great solo arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue, was nominated in 2009 for Quebec's prestigious classical music Prix Opus awards. His 2006 solo release, Gabriel's Message, which features his original arrangements and compositions based on popular Christmas themes, was nominated for Québec's Félix award for “Best Jazz Album” in 2007. Matt's 1998 recording of Glazunov's 2nd Piano Concerto with I Musici de Montreal for Chandos Records was hailed as “By far the best performance on disc” by Strad Magazine.

Matt has performed at major festivals around the world, including Canada, the U.S., Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. His trio's debut recording, Forget Me Not, received wide critical acclaim, and was also nominated for Félix award in 2005. Dave Brubeck, upon hearing the album, wrote to Matt and commented: “Hearing such technique almost ruined my day. I said to myself, 'This is the final straw. I'd better retire now'.” Barry Manilow, after hearing this recording, invited Matt and his trio to join him on his 2007 Christmas release for Hallmark, In The Swing Of Christmas, which was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Album in 2009.

Matt premiered his latest piano concerto, Undertow (2008), in the fall of 2008 with the multi-genre chamber orchestra Absolute Ensemble at the Bremen International Musikfest in Bremen, Germany. The piece was commissioned by Absolute for their show Bach Reinvented, in which five composers were asked to write original pieces based on Bach Inventions. One reviewer wrote of the performance: “Matt Herskowitz proved himself a highly energetic rhythmian, without comparison in his mastery of the piano... he also conjured up absolutely lyrical moments of the compositional structure of his Bach Invention.” He recently performed the piece with Absolute Ensemble at the Köln Philharmonie in Cologne, Germany. The concert was broadcast on WDR German television in 2010. His other works for piano and orchestra include his Chorale and Variations on a Theme of Dave Brubeck, which he premiered with the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal in 1998 for Radio-Canada broadcast; Serial Blues, which he recorded with Absolute Ensemble for Enja Records in 2000; and Skeleton's Tango, commissioned by Absolute Ensemble and premiered in Bremen, Germany in the fall of 2009.

Matt's performance on the soundtrack of the Grammy-nominated film The Triplets of Belleville has earned him much popular and critical acclaim. He performs Bach's Prelude in C minor in the film, loosely posing as Glenn Gould, and his own Bach à la Jazz, a jazz arrangement of the same Bach prelude, which is also featured on the award-winning hit soundtrack CD of the film. Matt has also worked on live performance projects with renowned film composer Carter Burwell, in collaboration with directors Charlie Kaufman and the Coen brothers.

As songwriter and arranger, Matt has collaborated with many artists and producers, most notably pop diva Lara Fabian. His Piano Nocturne, a nearly 17-minute solo piano piece featured on Lara's album Nue (Universal, 2001), earned him many thousands of fans in Europe and was a milestone in pop recordings. As a result of its success, Matt and Lara began a long and productive collaboration which continues to this day.

A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Matt is originally from Albany, New York, and has made Montreal his adopted home of 12 years.