Matthew Decker began his position as Assistant Principal Timpanist/Section Percussionist in the Seattle Symphony in the 2016/2017 season. Before joining the Symphony, Decker spent two seasons as the Assistant Principal Percussionist of the North Carolina Symphony and also had a season-long fellowship with the New World Symphony. His resume includes concert appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and the Battle Creek Symphony in Michigan, with which he made his solo debut in 2009. Decker was a 2011 fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and also spent two summers at the Music Academy of the West and Round Top Festival. Decker has worked with conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert and Esa-Pekka Salonen, had the privilege of performing in a master class with Yo-Yo Ma, and performed as a soloist alongside Branford Marsalis. He won the 2010 Kerope Zildjian Scholarship and was a finalist in the 2009 Atlanta Snare Drum Competition. A student of North Carolina’s Eastern Music Festival in 2008, he was on the faculty from 2016 until 2023. From 2020-2022 he was visiting guest lecturer at Northwestern University and coached the New World Symphony fellows in 2023.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Music with Honors from Roosevelt University and a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music. He studied with Chris Lamb, Duncan Patton, She-e Wu, Vadim Karpinos, and Paul Berns.