New Zealand: Nature, Great Walks, and Creative Spirit

Matthew Suttor is a New Zealand–born composer and educator whose work spans opera, chamber music, sound installation, and interdisciplinary performance. He has been part of the Yale community since 1999, beginning in the Department of Music before serving for many years as Professor in the Practice of Sound Design at the David Geffen School of Drama. He now serves as Program Manager at the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) and as Senior Lecturer in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Throughout his career, Suttor has blended acoustic tradition with emerging technologies, creating operas, dance and theatre scores, sacred music, sound installations, and works for film and television. His compositions and collaborations have been presented by major institutions across the Americas, Europe, and Australasia, including Lincoln Center, BAM Next Wave, the Guggenheim, Bard SummerScape, Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, 92nd Street Y, the New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Hochschule der Künste Bern, Folkwang Tanzstudio, PBS, Television New Zealand, and Yale Repertory Theatre. A dedicated teacher, mentor, and collaborator, Suttor is committed to fostering innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to the arts. His recent projects explore how music can be derived from patterns in nature, how artificial intelligence can serve as a creative partner, and how creativity itself can be taught. A Fulbright Scholar, he holds a doctorate in composition from Columbia University.