Hailed as “a terrific aural imagination” by The American Prize, Matt Ridge is a Los Angeles-based composer, arranger, and orchestrator. His work has garnered recognition as a winner of The American Prize (Ernst Bacon Memorial Award), as a finalist in two categories of The American Prize in Composition, and as a Judge’s Pick in the Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest.

Matt has worked for high-profile clients including John Williams, John Powell, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Seth MacFarlane, and Apple as a music preparation specialist in the film and TV industry. He is an orchestrator, editor, copyist, and transcriptionist at JoAnn Kane Music Service, with select credits including “Severance”, “Only Murders in the Building”, and “Avatar: The Way of Water”.

Influenced by a diverse performance background, Matt has run the gamut from singing contemporary vocal music with Indiana University’s acclaimed NOTUS to years of DCI/WGI membership as a percussionist. Recently, he performed with pop band MUNA to a sold out Greek Theatre crowd in Los Angeles as a choir member.

Matt maintains an active presence in the marching arts community as an award-winning arranger, most notably earning four consecutive WGI World Championships (PSCW) with Fishers High School (IN). He is an alum of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and Music City Mystique, having served a prominent leadership role in both ensembles.

A native of Indiana, Matt holds a degree in composition from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with high distinction. He previously worked as an engraver and digital marketing specialist at Tapspace Publications, LLC, a percussion-oriented music publisher.

Matt is a member of ASCAP, PAS, and AFM. Outside of music, Matt enjoys a self-taught background and passion in video creation and takes interest in film, video games, science, and the endless void of Internet humor.

Updated April 2025