Stephen Mattingly

Dr. Stephen Mattingly – guitarist, has been warmly received by audiences in the United States and Europe as a soloist and as a founding member of the Tantalus Quartet. His performances have aired on television and radio programs across the United States. Stephen has performed on concert series including the Appalachian State University Guitar Festival, International Guitar Institute, Marshall University, New York Summer Music Festival, Sierra Nevada Guitar Festival, Tennessee State University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Valdosta State University among others. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras, performing concerti such as Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantisia para un gentilhombre and Vivaldi’s Concerto in D major. As a recipient of the prestigious Theodore Presser Award, he recorded the complete guitar chamber works by Franz Schubert, which are available in critical performance editions from Allegra-Zimmermann.

 Stephen enjoys a vibrant teaching career directing classical guitar studies as Associate Professor of Guitar at the University of Louisville, where he has been recognized as a distinguished professor for creative activity. His students have won top-prizes in competitions and have been accepted to graduate programs including the Eastman School of Music, Florida State University, Peabody Conservatory, and the Shenandoah Conservatory. In addition to his performing and teaching engagements, Stephen is the Director of the University of Louisville Guitar Festival and Competition. Alongside this role, Stephen is a board member of the Chamber Music Society of Louisville and the Louisville Guitar Society, which hosts a concert series and advocates for guitar education through outreach programs and civic initiatives. From 2007-10 Stephen worked for the Guitar Foundation of America as Development Director and Convention Manager, and served as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 2015-2020.

 Stephen pursues scholarly activities with research and frequent writings on issues of guitar pedagogy and history. Soundboard magazine published his article on Schubert and the Guitar. Stephen has judged, lectured, performed, and taught at international conferences including the Silesian Guitar Autumn Competition in Tychy, Poland; the Guitar Foundation of America Convention; the Iserlohn Guitar Symposium in Germany; the Columbus State Guitar Seminar; the Acadia International Guitar Festival in Canada; the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes; the New York Summer Music Festival and the College Music Society.

 Stephen earned a Doctorate of Music and a Theory Pedagogy Certificate at the Florida State University under the instruction of renowned pedagogue Bruce Holzman. Prior to his doctoral studies, Stephen completed a two-year residence in Germany where he was awarded an Artist Diploma while studying with Dale Kavanagh at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Stephen also studied with Oscar Ghiglia at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Prior to his work in Europe, Stephen studied with Nicholas Goluses at the esteemed Eastman School of Music where he earned a Master’s and a Bachelor Degree with distinction, a Certificate in Arts Leadership, and a Performer’s Certificate.

 Recordings by Stephen Mattingly and by the Tantalus Quartet are available online at iTunes, CD Baby, and SoundSet Recordings.