James Matthews, a native of Lakeland, Florida is a Graduate Piano Performance Major at Belmont University. Matthews received his Bachelor of Music from the University of West Florida where he studied in the piano studio of Distinguished Professor, Yamaha Artist Dr. Hedi Salanki.

Despite many hardships after spending his first year of college being homeless, Matthews endured and has achieved numerous prizes in piano competitions including Honorable Mention in the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition, and a Medal of Musical Excellence from the City of New York, given after his first Carnegie Hall debut in April of 2014. James has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, People Magazine, NPR and BBC World News and has performed internationally at the Sydney Opera House, Berlin, Norway, London, Taiwan and Japan. Being praised for his dramatic romantic music performances. Ever since 2014 Matthews has performed annually at Carnegie Hall to a sold-out audience.

As an Educator Matthews teaches at the collegiate level and maintains a private studio and is in high demand for his skills as a Collaborative Pianist. In the summer of 2017 James participated in the Art of Piano Festival at the University of Cincinnati where he was selected one of twenty-five of the best pianists of his generation to perform in masterclasses and concerts. Recently, James Achieved a top prize in the American Fine Arts Festival International Competition with a performance at Carnegie Hall in December 2017 and won the Concerto Competition with the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1. The New York Post quotes Matthews as being a “Rising Star!” and he is inspirational to many for his faith-based determination in Christ and his love for music.