Cellist Matthew Lei was born in Michigan and raised in Colorado. He began his musical journey on the piano at the age of four before transitioning his focus to playing the cello when he was ten years old. He finished a three-year Bachelor of Music Performance at the University of Northern Colorado under the instruction of Dr. Gal Faganel and his graduate studies at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Professor Shauna Rolston. Matthew is a passionate advocate for a large breadth of music, and his repertoire includes pieces ranging from the works of early music composers such as Giovanni Pergolesi and Jean-Baptiste Barrière to the contemporary compositions of Luciano Berio and Kaija Saariaho. In past summers, he has been a participant of the Brevard Summer Festival, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Scotia Festival of Music. Matthew will begin an Artist’s Diploma at the College Conservatory of Music (CCM) in Cincinnati in the Fall of 2023, where he will study with Professor Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir.