Matthew has been teaching since his earliest years as a boy scout and church youth leader.  Blessed with a natural ease and sense of leadership among groups and young people, he captivates the attention of his students with his knowledge and passion for the subject at hand.
At the age of 19, he served for two years as a full-time missionary for his church in the rural Philippines.  Not only did he master the language(s), but gained an understanding of the need for compassion and personalization required of an effective teacher.
Following his missionary service, Matthew worked for almost two years at the Missionary Training Center teaching prospective missionaries the advanced language and proselytizing skills needed for effective missionary service.
Throughout his undergraduate and graduate education he continued to teach a private vocal studio of 25-30 students a week, taught and directed and music directed for many studios and local theatres, and assisted many professors of acting, directing, and history in lesson planning and class teaching.  He also studied advanced techniques for university-level teaching and international and multi-cultural theatre.
During his three-year MFA program, he was commisioned to not only teach his own speech/acting classes, but to create a new course in advanced acting for voice majors in collaboration with the Opera Dept. in the School of Music.
For his 6 years in New York City, Matthew ran a very successful private voice studio in the heart of Times Square, taught Vocal Technique at Cap21 Studios, the musical theatre division of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and gave singing, acting, and speech workshops in various studios throughout the city.
He currently teaches as an Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at The Univerversity of Northern Colorado.
In addition to his academic teaching, Matthew is an experienced director, music director, and speech coach for the theatre.  And on any given Sunday you can see him conducting the church choir or teaching sunday school with his local congregation. 
Education is the root of happiness in this life.  And Matthew finds complete artistic, intellectual, and spiritual fulfillment from helping those around him come to the awareness of their potential for good in the world.


M A T T H E W H E R R I C K