“One of Norcal's most eclectic and passionate artists, Matt Major, whose electrifying performances dazzle audiences from California to Europe and beyond!”
With a colorful blend of neo-classical, fusion jazz, and soul, Major brings a rare yet new sound to the stage. Ever since he was a child, he has desired to play the violin at a professional level, which meant being proficient enough for the symphony or the big stage with a jazz or rock band. While Major has been described as talented, friendly, and a strong improviser by colleagues, Matt writes his original music and spends time perfecting classical excerpts for orchestral auditions. Major channels the energy of the California spirit into his music, and he aims to bring people from different cultures together. He believes that through music, dance, food, and showing love towards one another, we can all collectively make our world a richer and better place.
Matthew Major’s love of music came at an extremely early age. He was born and raised in a musical family, and also lived on the West Coast, which has a vast culture of hip-hop and Latino music. While at home, he listened to the Gypsy Kings, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and classical music as well as opera.
Matthew Major has performed in Havana, Cuba, Prague, Czech Republic, Valencia, Spain, and is now based in Discovery Bay, California. He has performed at the Beverly Hills Food and Wine Festival in Los Angeles, CA; the WE-DAY Festival at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA; the Farm-to-Fork Festival in Sacramento, CA; and the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in Valencia, Spain. He also sat in with the Czech Philharmonic and the Oakland Symphony. He recently completed his master's studies in contemporary performance at the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. He is now a Violin Fellow with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, where he will train for professional auditions with members of the San Francisco Symphony.
My name is Matthew Major, and since my beginnings, I've been a passionate activist in the culture of the American Musician. I was fortunate to have grown up in a home where my mother frequently played classical music and opera CDs. I can vividly remember hearing Jazz in my early years while in my parent's car on the way to San Francisco. Having been exposed to a wide array of music since childhood, I have always sought a profound understanding of what music truly is. And means beyond the counterpoint but on a cosmic, spiritual level. In short, my mother was a connoisseur of classical music, and my father was into different styles of Jazz. When it comes to my cultural background, I have an ethnically mixed heritage with roots in Bahamian, Native American, Croatian, Jewish, and Hungarian cultures. But most would probably describe me as an African American at first glance. My grandmother on my father's side was a blonde jew who’s family escaped the holocaust, and my grandfather was a dark skinned man from the Bahamas. On my mother's side, I had my uncle Joseph Eubanks, who was the professor of classical voice at Morgan State University. There is also my aunt Dr. Rachel Eubanks, who was an established ethnomusicologist. She established the Eubanks Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, California. My great-grandmother was a Native American of Creek descent. So my grandmother was part Native American and part African American, while my grandfather was black and part Scottish, and English. It was these Scottish and English roots that gave birth to my grandfather's passion for enjoying and singing classical music. This passion then passed on to my mother, which in turn led to me. This sacred tradition of music is why, in my youth, I began playing the piano at the age of four, and then, around 6 or 7 years of age, I picked up the violin.
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