Matthew F.

My friends call me Matt, so you can call me Matt, too. I am a composer and jazz pianist who has been working professionally as a musician and part-time writer/editor for more than 10 years. My compositions have won numerous competitions, including the recent Taiwan Golden Melody (the Grammy of the Mandarin-speaking world) nomination of my newest album, Don't Get Too Comfortable, which is available on all digital music platforms. The song "Poetry of Rain" received more than 30,000 listens in the first 6 months after release, and another recent song of my own, "Joyful Gentleman," played with the band ZyTheWay, was the only submission from Taiwan to place in the international songwriting competition "Unsigned Only" in 2020. But awards aren't everything: to me, composing is about using all of my skills to make the most honest, beautiful music that I can to share with everyone. As a pianist, I am a working jazz piano player and have had the fortune to lead my own groups, including the Matt Fullen Sextet and ZyTheWay, as well as play with beautiful and very high-level musicians such as Adam James Sorensen (Dust Cloud Refrain, 2018), Joanna Wang (House of Bullies, 2017), George Braith, Tony Miceli, Mandy Gaines, and more. I am also director of music at Theater Trattoria, one of Taipei's premier jazz spots for Friday and Saturday nights. Regarding my career as a writer, the first time my writing was recognized was when, in the third grade, I wrote a letter to nobody in particular describing the hardships of being eight years old in words unbecoming of a gentleman. Using both the playground and the library to augment my vocabulary had its ups and downs, I suppose, but I've learned to be more selective with my wording since then. Now, in my thirties, I've had many rewarding experiences with academic editing, newspapers, three years of published weekly satire, creative fiction, and more. As both a writer and a composer of jazz and classical music, I am fortunate to have true passions.