A JOURNEY THROUGH MUSIC
Griset Music serves as the artistic platform for Matthew Griset, a dedicated classical musician, who offers exceptional music direction, expressive vocal performances, elegant piano services, and original compositions. With a passion for music education, he also provides music lessons for aspiring musicians.
Currently, Matthew is the Music Director for the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara and performs professionally as a section leader with the Santa Barbara Choral Society.
Beyond performing and music directing, Griset also composes new music for his choir and for publication. He specializes in choral, solo voice, and piano compositions, but loves arranging for other ensembles as well.
A multi-instrumentalist, he is trained in trumpet, classical voice and piano, and is currently learning blues guitar, jazz piano, organ, and practice chanter for the Scottish bagpipes.
Whether you’re planning a special occasion or seeking to enhance your musical skills, Griset Music is here to inspire and elevate your experience.
Below you can see some of the highlights of his musical journey.
Unitarian
Universalist
Music Director
For over a decade,
Matthew Griset has been a music director for Unitarian Universalist (UU) churches and communities, serving under multiple worship leaders and working with both volunteer and professional performers to provide meaningful music to their worship services.
Music Director
for USSB
In 2021, Griset moved to California and began music directing for the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara (USSB) in California. Since starting there, he has directed their Chancel Choir, collaborated with their accompanist, Heather Levin, coordinated special services for holidays and events, assisted in live audio mixing, composed new choral works, and rewritten and organized performances of his original work, 'We Can Build Our Home' for their Capital Campaign.
Click below to watch videos of USSB's Sunday Services.
MAMMA MIA!
Griset worked as a keyboard player on the 2019 production of Mamma Mia! with the Peninsula Community Theatre in Newport News, VA. The instrumental ensemble was under the direction of the highly skilled Rachel Anne Bradley, whose leadership brought the catchy tunes of ABBA to life. Under her direction, the music was so in sync with the original sounds of the albums that many audience members did not realize that the band was live.
The talented cast of the Peninsula Community Theatre celebrated their love of music and storytelling by giving stellar performances with every show. Their enthusiasm and energy was so electric, that each night ended with a standing ovation.
Prior to moving to California, Matthew Griset sang with the Virginia Chorale, an ensemble that combines masterful vocal artistry and powerful programming to create enriching and transformative choral concerts.
Click the link below to hear their performance of 'The Oxen' by Jonathan Rathbone.
A New
Worship Space &
Building Dedication
Originally a Music Director at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk (UCN), Matthew Griset assisted with the community's transition to a new building in Virginia Beach, VA, where the church was renamed to Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalists (CVUU).
After the move into the new worship space in Virginia Beach, Griset collaborated with local Unitarian Universalist church music directors and their choirs, and hired professional instrumentalists to perform his original composition, 'We Can Build Our Home' for the Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalist's Building Dedication. This event was a celebration of the move to the new worship space and those who made it possible.
Church Music During the Pandemic
Less than two years after moving into the new building, the pandemic hit.
As many churches had to do during this time, CVUU's music program pivoted to online services. During the pandemic, Griset created backing tracks on hymns for choir members, instructed singers on how to create home recordings, ran rehearsals via Zoom, and combined, mixed, and mastered choir member vocal tracks and MIDI instrumentation to provide audio tracks for worship services.
This helped quarantined congregants to feel as if they were back in their spiritual home, listening to and singing along with the familiar voices of their choir.
The Norfolk
Street Choir Project
Robert (Bob) Shoup, who is the chorus master and staff conductor for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, founded the Norfolk Street Choir Project.
This choir offers currently and previously unhoused individuals the opportunity to sing in a choir; helping to spread awareness, fundraise for programs that serve those in need, and provide a voice to those who are often overlooked.
Norfolk, VA
Street Requiem
November 2017
The Street Requiem, written in honor of those who have died living on the streets, provided powerful music for an important issue. Bob Shoup organized the Norfolk Street Choir with other local ensembles to create a Street Requiem concert that truly brought together the community. This included the Virginia Children's Chorus and musicians across various synagogues, mosques, and churches, including the Unitarian Church of Norfolk (later known as the Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalists).
The night before the concert, the otherwise temperate weather dropped to below freezing temperatures. This being an outdoor concert, the shift in weather sent a powerful reminder to those present of the conditions which those on the streets have had to endure. The concert touched attendees and performers alike, and provided local charities with the opportunity to sign up new volunteers and accept donations.
Matthew Griset sang as a Core Tenor for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus under the direction of Chorus Master Bob Shoup and the orchestra director at the time, JoAnn Falletta. Under their incredible direction, Griset sang on major works, such as the Brahms Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria, Mozart Requiem, Handel's Messiah, and Verdi Requiem; and annual concerts such as the Holiday Pops Concert and The Virginia International Tattoo, which features military bands and performers from all over the globe.
Unitarian Church of Norfolk
Music Director
Shortly after graduating from college, Griset began music directing at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk. He ran weekly choir rehearsals, started their Pagan Music Group for pagan holiday services, and began performing with other Unitarian churches. This was his first encounter with the Unitarian faith. The community was deeply welcoming, generous, and kind; and Griset found a new home in Unitarianism. These first few years inspired him to become a lifelong UU and created a desire to support others in their spiritual journeys through music.
JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
Degrees
Matthew Griset graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor's Degree in Music, with Dual Concentrations in both Music Composition and Music Industry; and classical voice as his instrument.
While in college, Griset performed in multiple choirs and operas; composed advanced music for orchestra, band, choir, solo voice, piano, and more; studied audio engineering and music business; worked as an audio technician at the local performing arts center; interned at a commercial recording studio; performed at the US Spoleto Festival; dictated a musical; and completed both a half Senior Voice Recital and a full Senior Composition Recital. None of these experiences would have been possible if it weren't for the amazing teachers, fellow students, and (most of all) friends met along the way.
Senior Recitals
Voice Recital
Matthew Griset and the talented Xabi Mugica performed a joint voice recital, each performing a half hour of music.
Songs on Griset's recital repertoire included 'Celia Has a Thousand Charms' by Purcell, 'My lovely Celia, heav'nly fair' by Monro, original compositions titled 'The Park' and 'The Line is Cast', 'Ouvre ton coeur' by Bizet, 'Ral La La La' by Humperdinck, 'Si puo?' by Leoncavallo, 'The Dying Soldier' by Nigel Short, and a vocal quartet arrangement by Griset of 'Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold' for him and Xabi to close the recital.
Composition Recital
Matthew Griset organized a full hour composition recital of original works. Each work within the recital required a different ensemble, which totaled 50 performers to accomplish.
The works included a tone poem based upon the Russian folk story 'Vasalisa the Beautiful'; a TTBB setting of a nature poem centered on humility; a soprano song cycle based upon fire and water, which used quartal, whole tone, and cluster chord harmonies for the pianist, and atonal sprechstimme techniques for the vocalist; a commissioned tonal SATB setting of I Corinthians 13; a double choir composition about sailors beckoned by sirens; a tenor song-cycle about a love story that transcends death, between the singer and his husband; and a lively setting of Dorothy Parker's 'Salome's Dancing Lesson', where the pianist and singer battle over who controls the ballet lesson.
If you've made it this far down the page, thank you so much for reading about my journey. There are too many amazing experiences and people to list. If we haven't met yet, I hope that in the future our paths will cross and we're able to make some beautiful music together.
- Matthew Griset