Matt Hare

Matt Hare is a double bassist, composer, and educator based in Southern California. He serves on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine, Concordia University, and Saddleback College, where he teaches music appreciation and history of rock both in person and online. He is also a frequent string coach at Irvine, Laguna Hills, Trabuco Hills, and University high schools, and gives recitals and master classes that often feature his own transcriptions and arrangements.

Hare is a longtime member of the International Society of Bassists and was a clinician for its Young Bassists program at the 2009 convention at Penn State and the 2011 convention in San Francisco. He previously served as the first director of educational programs at Lemur Music, a retailer specializing in the double bass, and has held faculty positions at Luther, Cornell, and Wartburg Colleges, as well as at the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival.

An active performer, Hare freelances with ensembles throughout Southern California, including the San Bernardino and San Diego symphonies. He has been a regular member of the Quad Cities and Peoria symphonies, and has performed with orchestras across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Recent highlights include a solo recital in Los Angeles featuring his own pandemic-era compositions and the upcoming premiere of his orchestration of Hayk Arsenyan’s Stratum, a concertante for double bass and piano, with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia.

Hare holds a bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg University, a master’s degree from Butler University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa. His major teachers include Mark R. Jelinek, Diana Gannett, David Murray, and Volkan Orhon.