Bio
Michael Matushek joined the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012, where he currently serves as assistant principal and second bassoonist. He has performed as a guest bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the Alabama, Hawaiʻi, Houston, Jacksonville, New World, and North Carolina symphony orchestras, the Houston Grand Opera, and CityMusic Cleveland. His festival engagements have included orchestral and chamber performances with La Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Northern Neck Orchestra, and the Artosphere, Breckenridge, Eastern, and Spoleto music festivals. Michael is also an enthusiastic member of the New Orleans music community, appearing regularly with local groups including the New Resonance Orchestra, Musaica, Tulane Summer Lyric, Marigny Opera Ballet, the Delachaise Ensemble, and New Orleans Chamber Players.
Michael has shared the stage with a wide array of artists, including Weird Al Yankovic, T.I., Randy Newman, Andrea Bocelli, Paquito D’Rivera, Béla Fleck, Evanescence, Bob Weir, Tower of Power, Lettuce, and Lindsey Stirling, as well as local favorites Big Freedia, Tank and the Bangas, and Sweet Crude. He was the bassoonist on the LPO’s Grammy-winning album with the Lost Bayou Ramblers.
A passionate educator, Michael has taught at universities including Tulane, Xavier, and Loyola, and has presented masterclasses throughout the region. He served as a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, and for two summers was a teaching assistant at Interlochen Arts Camp. Michael also maintains a private studio, and has been proud to see his former students go on to perform on NPR’s From the Top, play in All-State bands and orchestras, and gain admission to top music schools such as Colburn, Rice, LSU, and UT Austin. Through LPO Academy, he mentors students weekly in their schools, and his LPOA students were featured performers at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2025.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Michael holds a Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Ben Kamins and George Sakakeeny, respectively. In 2012, he represented the Shepherd School at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as part of The Conservatory Project. As a student, he earned fellowships to the Music Academy of the West and National Repertory Orchestra.
Michael lives in Gentilly with his wife, LPO violist Catherine Matushek, where they volunteer fostering neonatal kittens for the Louisiana SPCA. He also enjoys solving and constructing crossword puzzles and playing jazz piano and the recorder.
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