Matthew Wardell

Matt is in his 16th year as a professional music director and conductor, has been nationally recognized for his award-winning programming, and has a decade of experience teaching at universities and colleges.
 

MATTHEW WARDELL is a conductor known for his quick wit, endearing presence in both pops and classical settings, and his incredible ability to bring joy and excitement to any audience.
 

In 2024, Matthew was appointed as the Director of Orchestras at the University of South Florida (Tampa, FL), and was also named 1st prize winner in the professional division of the American Prize’s Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming and also as a national finalist for both the American Prize in Conducting and for the performance of American music.

In addition to his work as Music Director of the Ocala Symphony and USF Symphony Orchestra, recent and upcoming guest appearances include conducting with the Jacksonville Symphony, Chamber Orchestra Pittsburgh, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, the Gainesville Orchestra, and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra.
 
When Matthew was appointed Music Director of the Ocala Symphony in 2009, the Ocala Star Banner declared that, “Wardell brings an impressive resume of musical and conducting training ... Maybe more important than his musical credentials is Wardell’s youthful enthusiasm and unabashed zest ... Wardell is not only a daring and dynamic choice as the Ocala Symphony Orchestra’s new conductor, but a smart one.”

On the stage, he has publicly performed more than 470 works in over 275 live performances including core orchestral works from all periods, concerti for voice and nearly every instrument, extensive pops offerings, film and multimedia works, and the purposeful inclusion of underrepresented composers and pieces – including premieres from composers such as Michael Daugherty (Daugherty called the Ocala Symphony the “hardest working orchestra in Florida!”), Paul Richards, Stella Sung, and Jenni Brandon. From the pit, Maestro Wardell has led 19 staged productions of large-scale opera, musical theatre, and ballet works including La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, The Barber of Seville, Susannah, the Miraculous Mandarin, Cosi fan tutte, Carmina Burana, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd. Matthew once conducted 2 performances of Puccini’s Tosca with only one day’s notice. The performances were hailed as “first-rate” and “inspiring.” His ability to step in at the last moment was described as a “magnificent feat … when the stakes were high, Mr. Wardell came through brilliantly and proved his mettle.”
 

Outside his success on the podium and in the orchestra pit, Matthew has been responsible for more than $7 million in private fundraising, over $3 million in grant acquisitions from the local to national level, and the creation and successive expansion of the Reilly Arts Center, a 30,000 square foot Ocala, FL performing arts facility that houses a 700-seat mainstage theatre, the NOMA black box, and the Ocala Symphony Community Music Conservatory.
 

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wardell received his Bachelor of Music cum laude (2007) at the University of North Florida working under Charlotte Mabrey. Wardell continued his education by earning Masters of Music (2010) and Doctor of Musical Arts (2022) degrees at the University of Florida under his mentor, Dr. Raymond Chobaz. Matthew spent five summers at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock, Maine studying with renowned conducting teacher Michael Jinbo. Wardell has been fortunate to have been recognized as both an Osher and Quimby Family Foundation scholar. In addition, Matthew has attended and participated in master classes with Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops and BBC Orchestra, Thomas Cockrell of the University of Arizona, and studied with conductor and composer Peter WesenAuer in Salzburg, Austria.
 

Matthew is a champion of all kinds of orchestral music. He enjoys programming and conducting core repertoire arm and arm with pops and new music believing that good music is just that – good music. He is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League and the College Orchestra Directors Association. In addition to his musical pursuits, Wardell is passionate about being involved in the communities he makes music in. In 2015 was elected to Ocala's City Council - a position he proudly held for 6 years. He enjoys traveling, the good company of friends, and attending Jacksonville Jaguars’ games. Matthew and his wife, arts executive Pamela Calero Wardell, have one dog, Buckley, who is probably up to no good at this very moment.