Summary

Matt Venuti is a multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter and multimedia artist best known for his distinctive sound and performances using rare and expressive acoustic and electronic instruments that he was among the first to bring to the stage. He's toured the country many times... performing in theaters, listening clubs, festivals, and high profile events such as TED and TEDx conferences. 

Aside from his concerts, one of Matt's most popular offerings includes performing a live music soundtrack to stunning visuals from nature that he's captured while on tour, and when he was Artist In Residence in some of our greatest National Parks. He recenly added awe-inspiring footage from Space, creating a mesmerizing live show called AmeriCosmos.

Matt’s music career was launched and cultivated in San Francisco where his band, The Venusians, became well known in both the adventurous underground music scene as well as the world of Special Events. Two of Matt's albums, one with the band and one solo, charted in the top 10 on the College Music Journal and Zone Music Reporter. 

Lately, when Matt's not touring he resides in the Finger Lakes Region of NY State.

Early On

Matt’s father was a jazz pianist and Matt started piano lessons at an early age before moving into brass instruments like trumpet and fluegelhorn. He became enthralled with the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) after seeing Mike Metheny playing an early model at a club in Boston. Mike led Matt to find his own, which eventually led Matt to get to know the inventor of the EVI, a great musician and technical genius named Nyle Steiner. When the Akai Corporation began distributing it, Matt was hired to travel around the country demonstrating the progressive instrument.

The Evi and The Band

Matt's band "The Venusians" were popular in the San Francisco Bay Area and became favorites of the SF underground parties and Burning Man community as well as the “digerati” of Silicon Valley, with the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft hiring them to play gala industry events. When George Lucas hired The Venusians to be the Cantina Band for his Star Wars Prequel event in San Francisco, it was a game changer and the calls were pouring in. The band became regulars in the Bay Area club and festival scene and institutions like the MOMA, the Academy Of Sciences, the San Francisco 49er's and Oakland A's were bringing the band on to their events. The band played the 49er's 50th Anniversary Event and shortly after Matt composed a theme song that they adopted called Go Niners!  

Because of Venuti’s reputation with the cutting-edge EVI, pop music celebrity Thomas Dolby asked Matt to play at the main TED Conference in his “TED House Band” with Dolby, Michael Manring and Rachelle Garniez in front of the most influential leaders in the worlds of technology, entertainment and design. In addition, Venuti was asked to open the conference with a solo EVI performance, and TED curator Chris Anderson asked Matt to give his own TED talk about the instrument on the closing day. Although he was riding high as the a frontman in this new world of technology and music, Matt was yearning for something new in his musical repertoire. He was experiencing, in his own words, “electronic overload” and he began to search for an acoustic instrument that would best help “ground” him and express new musical ideas.

The Hang

Eventually Matt discovered the Hang near to its inception in the early 2000's. The Hang is a contemporary instrument that resembles a flying saucer. This metal-alloyed instrument, which is placed on one's lap and played with the hands, can be performed both melodically and rhythmically…with a tonal quality never before heard that has the capacity to melt a frosty heart. It’s a magical sound that can leave a person mesmerized and enchanted. Hang means hand in the Swiss-German dialect native to Bern, Switzerland…where two brilliant artists and instrument makers, Felix Rohner and Sabina Sharer, created it from their small company named PANArt. This instrument was not available in stores and very few were brought into the USA. Matt managed to acquire two Hangs and recorded a CD combining the Hangs with other instruments. He sent sent the CD with a note of gratitude to the instrument makers and they replied by requesting more CDs and inviting Matt to visit. It would be the first of yearly trips to Switzerland and an acquisition of new instruments created by PANArt. With the Hang, Matt found himself being brought back to the TED and TEDx stages, introducing people to this captivating new instrument, yet he found it difficult to integrate it into the band…the instrument needed lots of sonic space to appreciate it's beautiful sound and nuanced harmonics. 

A New Journey

Matt remembers when he met Yolanda Bain, a yoga teacher. “She was standing on her head at the beach on a brisk day in late November. She became my wife and her fate would influence my life in unimaginable ways. Of all the twists and turns in my life, nothing would have as profound an impact as Yolanda’s death at the end of our 20th year together. I felt lost and disconnected from life as I knew it. I would escape to nature with the Hang instruments, visiting the redwoods, the canyons, the ocean, the desert…anywhere that offered a peaceful environment where I could find inspiration in nature. In time my heart started to heal, but with a different level of maturity that felt more enduring. I began to develop musical motifs that came from these visits to nature’s sanctuaries, and they later evolved into compositions. I was writing lyrics that reflected the delicate passage of life and the human need to turn to the heart for solace. I soon realized this wasn’t simply my journey, but the journey of all humans in this rhythm of life. 

Metamorphosis

In recent years, Matt has performed solo throughout the country... bringing together the EVI, Hang, Guitar, his Voice and a new set of instruments called Waves. He often uses a looping device to create lush harmonic, melodic and rhythmic layers that are mostly improvisational compositions. In his AmeriCosmos performance, Matt creates a live, improvised soundtrack...accompanying  jaw-dropping nature visuals that he's captured throughout the country, with the addition of an excursion into Space, courtesy of NASA. Matt has performed AmeriCosmos extensively in theaters, planetariums, art centers and other venues with projection capability. He also performs concerts in a variety venues that are more geared for listening experiences. 
During Matt's leisure time he enjoys nature and playing the piano.