Matthew West

Matthew West joined the San Diego Symphony as Section Percussionist in April 2026. Previously, he was a percussion fellow of the New World Symphony for the 2025-26 season. He also served as principal percussionist of the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and section percussionist with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. Mr. West has performed with reputable orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony and Sarasota Orchestra.

Mr. West has spent summers as a percussion fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Spoleto Festival USA and the Aspen Music Festival and School. In November 2022 he was selected as a Keston MAX Fellow through the Music Academy of the West, which included a 10-day residency performing with the London Symphony Orchestra. In May 2025 he performed with the Tanglewood Music Center Alumni Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany for an all-Shostakovich festival under the baton of Andris Nelsons.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Mr. West earned his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 2022 and his Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University in 2020, where he received the prestigious Performer’s Certificate “in recognition of outstanding musical performance in percussion,” as well as the Craigie Zildjian Scholarship. In 2023 he returned to Dallas and earned a Performer’s Diploma from the SMU Meadows School of the Arts. His teachers include Gregory Zuber, John Tafoya, Kevin Bobo and Joseph Gramley.

In his free time, Matthew West enjoys running, golfing, making cold brew and learning German.