MATTHEW DEXTER, bass-baritone from McKinney, Texas, is a first-year master’s student at Yale University. A lover of choral music, Matthew has enjoyed a variety of ensemble-singing experiences. He performs with the Yale Schola Cantorum and the Yale Voxtet in which he sings as an ensemble member and as a soloist. He has also sung with professional choral ensembles including Lafayette Musicians, Lumedia MusikWorks, the Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris, and the Montana Early Music Festival. For the past three years, Matthew was a vocal fellow at Spoleto Festival USA in which he premiered Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar in 2022, covered the role of the Old Doctor in Vanessa in 2023, and sang in choral concerts in 2024. This summer, he will perform in the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago as a Vocal Fellow and will return to Chicago in the winter as a soloist in Apollo’s Fire's tour of the Michael Preatorius Vespers.

As an undergraduate at the University of North Texas, he performed the roles of Mícha in Prodaná nevěsta, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zuniga in Carmen, and the Conductor in That Hellbound Train with UNT Opera. He also performed the roles of Herold and the Jailor in concert versions of Othello and Tosca respectively with the UNT Symphony orchestra. While at UNT, he was a recipient of the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award which honors one student entering their senior year who has shown extraordinary musical and academic accomplishments.

In addition to receiving the audience favorite award, Dexter placed third in the James Toland Vocal Arts competition and participated in Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy in 2024. He has sung in solo recitals with the Puccini Society of Dallas and at UNT, and has sung in masterclasses around the country with artists such as Donnie Ray Albert, Ana María Martínez, and Gordon Hawkins. Matthew studies with James Taylor.