Matthew Piatt

Kansas native Matthew Piatt was the first pianist/coach to be awarded an Adler Fellowship with San Francisco Opera. Upon completing his fellowship, he began to split his time between San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has also worked at Opera San José, where he conducted performances of A Streetcar Named Desire, and Opera Colorado, where he played harpsichord continuo for Così fan tutte.


During his time in San Francisco, he has assisted on over forty productions. He has played keyboards with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in six productions, including Nixon in China and the world premiere of Appomattox by Philip Glass. He also played the character of Jake in Francesca Zambello’s production of Show Boat, which was released on DVD.

In his twelve years as a member of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s music staff, he has helped prepare over forty productions. Through Lyric Unlimited, a community engagement initiative, he performed with artists such as Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, and Ana María Martinez.

Mr. Piatt began prompting in 2012 and has prompted sixteen productions in six languages, assisting conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Sir Andrew Davis, Eun Sun Kim, Enrique Mazzola, and Donald Runnicles.

He earned his bachelor's degree in piano from the University of Houston, graduating summa cum laude. He received his master's in collaborative piano at the University of Michigan, where he studied with Martin Katz.