Matt LeVeque

Matt LeVeque (b. 1996) is a percussionist, composer, and writer based in Los Angeles. His work moves freely between concert music, electronics, video, written text, installation, and performance. Through all his work, he explores questions of intimacy, queer relationality, and nostalgia.

Matt’s compositions investigate diverse concepts such as the inner lifeworlds of percussion instruments, samples as found objects, confessional documentary materials, and more. He has had works performed at soundpedro, Automata Arts, LA Artcore, Lois Lambert Gallery, rasp.la, Experiments in Electronic Sound Festival, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and others.

An active interpreter of contemporary percussion music, he has worked closely with composers such as Michael Pisaro-Liu, Nicholas Deyoe, Jack Herscowitz, Jeonghyeon Joo, Kevin Good, Wong Foo Jeng, Judith Berkson. He has performed at New Music on the Point, BENXT Festival, Yarn/Wire Institute, HEAR NOW Festival, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Tiny Backpack concert series, and others. He has also performed alongside notable musicians such as Claire Chase, Katherine Young, Elliott Sharp, the Bergamot Quartet, PARTCH Ensemble, red fish blue fish, and members of Yarn/Wire.

Matt’s scholarship focuses on issues of queer futurity and worldmaking, particularly as they relate to experimental percussion practices and sample-based electronic music. He has presented work at the Transplanted Roots Percussion Symposium, University of Pittsburgh MGSO Conference, and Cultural Studies Association Conference, as well as having an essay published in the Queer Percussion Research Group Zine Collection alongside Bill Solomon, Jennifer Torrence, Sarah Hennies, and others.

Matt holds a BA in Music from UC San Diego, as well as MFA and DMA degrees from the Performer-Composer program at the California Institute of the Arts. He serves as faculty at CalArts and Ventura College.