Sasha Matson was born in Seattle and grew up in Berkeley, California, during the turbulent and highly musical 1960s. Music became a serious part of his life early on, eventually leading him to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with Elinor Armer and John Adams. He continued his studies at UCLA and received a Ph.D. in Music Theory and Composition.
After graduate school, Matson spent a number of years in Los Angeles, working as a composer for film while also writing concert music. His credits from this period include scores for a dozen dramatic feature films. His music has never stayed within one particular area, and over the course of his career he has written orchestral and chamber works, vocal music, opera, jazz, and music for film.
Recording has also been an important part of Matson's work. His early albums Steel Chords & i-5 and Range of Light were produced by Joe Harley and released by AudioQuest Music and New Albion Records. These were followed by Cooperstown and Tight Lines, produced by John Atkinson and released by Albany/Troy and Stereophile Records. In 2023, Matson returned to a longtime interest in jazz with Molto Molto, an album of his compositions for jazz orchestra, co-produced by Harley and Atkinson. His more recent recording, Fillmore Street/Little Woodstar, continues his work with both jazz and concert music.
One of Matson's best-known projects is Cooperstown – A Jazz Opera in Nine Innings. The piece combines his interest in jazz and opera with another subject close to him: baseball. It premiered at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2007 and was later released as a recording.
Alongside composing, Matson has spent part of his career teaching. He has held positions at LaGrange College, Long Island University, and the State University of New York. His interest in recorded sound has also led to another side of his career. He writes about music, recordings, and audio as a Contributing Editor for Stereophile magazine.
Matson currently lives in Woodstock, New York, where he continues to compose and write.
