Matthew Nowlan is currently pursuing a bachelors degree in World Politics and Global Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also studies the Viola with Liz Freivogel from the Jupiter Quartet. Matthew enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performing arts administrator, Political Science major, and a musician. He has held the Principal Viola position with both the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Midwest Philharmonic Orchestra, and is also a member of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra. Matthew has also performed with numerous other ensembles including the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Eastern Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst University Orchestra, Illinois All-State Honors Orchestra, and the Bravura and Solideo Quartets. In 2018, he was selected as a member of the U.S. All-National Honors Orchestra that took place in Orlando, Florida. He has also participated in the Illinois Music Educator Conference, Birch Creek Summer Music Academy, Midwest Summer Chamber Music Camp, and the Chicago, NYC, and LA International Music Festivals. Under the baton of renown conductors, he has performed at internationally acclaimed venues including Carnegie Hall and Zankel Hall in New York City, Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in Chicago, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Foellinger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, St. Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, and Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. As a member of the Bravura String Quartet from 2016 to 2020, he performed for the Chicago Symphony Center, the Hemmens Cultural Center, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Chicago (JCCC), and numerous recitals, weddings, and community events. Matthew started learning the violin at age 5 with the late Anne Donahue and Taka Matsunaga, and transferred his skills to the Viola in his junior year of high school. Other notable professors and mentors include Kirsten Docter, Daniel McDonough, Salley Koo, Rudolf Haken, Carolyn Watson, Stephen Alltop, Ian Hobson, Jean Montes, Jeff Edmons, Kayoko Dan, Jeffrey Grogan, Brian Groner, and the late Matthew Mantell. In 2019 and 2020, he was selected as a winner of the National School Orchestra Award. Matthew is currently the Marketing and Events Coordinator of the Midwest Philharmonic Orchestra and has also worked in production at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine. Besides his love for music, Matthew avidly travels, enjoys cooking, and loves spending time with his cat Louie.