Matthew Poon served as music director and conductor of the Strings Attached Orchestra, from September 2019 through June 2022.  He successfully took SAO through the toughest times in the COVID-19 Pandemic, keeping us together and playing music.

In addition to having been SAO’s music director, Matthew Poon is also music director of the Markham Wesley Orchestra and conductor of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra, where he was winner of their 2015 Conducting Competition. Previously, he served as assistant conductor of the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in Markham, the McMaster University Choir and McMaster Women’s Vocal Ensemble. Matthew’s guest appearances include performances with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Better Homeland Choir, and McMaster Concert Band.

Having earned masters degrees in orchestral conducting and music theory, Matthew is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in music theory at the University of Toronto. He earned a bachelor’s degree with a diploma in music performance from McMaster University, and an associate’s diploma (ARCT) in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). Workshops have allowed Matthew to study with conducting teachers such as Chih-Sheng Chen, Harold Farberman, Gustav Meier, Jorge Mester and Paul Vermel, among others. Matthew speaks English and Cantonese and has a working knowledge of Mandarin and German.

Matthew’s musical interests extend beyond conducting into composing and arranging, music cognition research, and teaching, where he maintains a studio both privately in Markham and with Arcadia Academy of Music in Richmond Hill.