Dr. Matthew Phelps is the Minister of Music at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN. At West End, he conducts the nationally renowned Chancel Choir on a weekly basis and performs major concerts with orchestra. This season, Dr. Phelps led the Chancel Choir in performances of Telemann, Pärt, and Faure, while also preparing the choir for a Hymn Festival featuring guest artist Tom Trenney. He oversees a multi-faceted music department that includes two adult choirs, four choirs for children and youth, and two handbell choirs. As an organist, he is one of three organists on staff who plays the 136 rank Moller organ; the largest organ in the state of Tennessee.

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Dr. Phelps is also the founder and artistic director of the professional chamber choir Vocal Arts Nashville. Having completed their second season, the choir presented three concerts featuring a blend of early music and contemporary choral compositions. Dr. Phelps is also a regular conductor with the Nashville Concerto Orchestra and the Mozart Birthday Festival Orchestra. An active organ recitalist, Dr. Phelps has played in churches around the country including St. Mary the Virgin, St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan, Westminster Presbyterian in Dayton, OH, and Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. And his premiere of Trumpets of Light, written for him by Dan Locklair, was broadcast on NPR’s Pipedreams. Dr. Phelps is also one of the most sought after pianists in the Nashville region. He has performed as a soloist with the Nashville Concerto Orchestra, Intersection, and is a founding member of the Elliston Trio with violinist Erin Hall and cellist Keith Nicholas. He is on the faculty of Lipscomb University where he teaches courses in theory and church music.

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Dr. Phelps is from Cincinnati, OH where he finished his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He worked extensively in NYC and Cincinnati before arriving in Nashville, and his choirs have performed at regional conventions of MENC and ACDA. Dr. Phelps was the winner of the 2015 American Prize in Choral Conducting and has placed in performance competitions as both an organist and pianist. He studied conducting with Earl Rivers, Mark Gibson, and Stephen Coker. He has studied organ with Jerry Taylor, Thom Miles, Matthew Lewis, and Michael Unger. He lives in Bellevue with his wife Colleen and son Noah and is an avid chef and chess player.