BIO

A native of Fresno, California, Matthew has extensive performance and teaching experience including performing nationally as a soloist with symphony orchestras and holding faculty appointments at several institutions.

 

Matthew maintains an active solo performance career and has performed concertos with the Lompoc Pops, Opera San Luis Obispo and Buffalo Community orchestras. His greatest passion, however, is found in making music with others and he frequently concertizes with other instrumentalists and vocalists in the Los Angeles area. In 2022, he attended Music Academy of the West as one of the nine selected collaborative piano fellows, during which he was a finalist in the festival’s Duo Competition. One of the many ways he showcases his versatility is through performing his own arrangements of the music of artists such as Coldplay, Hans Zimmer and the Beatles at a candlelight concert series in which he is actively involved.

Harikian is a member of Trio Palmera, a group comprising violin, clarinet, and piano music that aims to explore the lesser-known repertoire for that instrumentation. In March 2024, Trio Palmera was listed as a semifinalist in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition in Austin, TX and, in April 2025 they performed on the Classical Crossroads "Classical Interludes" series.

 

His research interests involve early 20th-century neotonality in the music of Sergei Prokoviev and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as American serialism with special emphasis in the music of Elliott Carter and Ursula Mamlok. Equally passionate about education, both in regard to music theory and piano performance, Matthew has held appointments teaching theory at St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, and Augsburg colleges, as well as a staff pianist position at Fresno State University.

 

Matthew obtained his DMA from the Thornton School of Music at USC in collaborative piano with an academic emphasis in Music Theory and elective studies in Instrumental Conducting and Organ Performance. Previous teachers include Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Lydia Artymiw, Kent McWilliams, Ick-Choo Moon, and Arlene Steffen. He holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from St. Olaf College and master’s degrees in both piano performance and music theory from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.