Photo credit: Stan Engebretson
Conductor Matthew Robertson is the founder and driving voice of the professional choir and orchestra The Thirteen, which he has led in more than 225 concerts, two dozen concert tours, nine commercial recordings, and numerous world premieres. Noted for boundary-defying performances that “transfigure the listener” (The Washington Post), for his “incisive tempos and dramatic pacing” (Washington Classical Review), and “flowing lines and dramatic climaxes” (Fanfare), Robertson has led The Thirteen to national recognition, including being named “Best of 2025 in Classical Music” by The Washington Post.
Robertson’s repertoire spans five centuries, from Renaissance polyphony and Bach and Handel to newly commissioned music. His “highly convincing” (Organists’ Review) curation of Monteverdi’s late sacred works resulted in The Lost Vespers series and the recording Monteverdi: The ‘Lost’ Vespers. A recent program of contemporary music was hailed as “Sensational stuff” by Post critic Michael Andor Brodeur. Robertson’s interpretations have included staged performances of Bach’s St. John Passion and Brahms’ Requiem, and multimedia performances of works by Joby Talbot, Gabriel Jackson, David Lang, and Kile Smith.
Robertson’s programming engages directly with the critical issues of our time. Sing Willow (2020), From Tree to Shining Tree (2019), Scott Ordway’s The Outer Edge of Youth (2022), and Light of a Clear Blue Morning (2025) addressed climate change. His staged 2021 St. John Passion confronted systemic racism and was called “an indictment of injustice” by The Washington Post. The New American Songbook explored immigration and belonging and was described by the Post as “a vivid portrait of a nation still finding its voice.” Robertson has commissioned works from Juhi Bansal, Ashi Day, Melissa Dunphy, Lori Laitman, Hilary Purrington, Diedre Robinson, Trevor Weston, and Jonathan Woody.
Robertson has led educational residencies at more than twenty colleges and universities, including Yale University and the University of Maryland, where he conducted a staged Brahms Requiem. He directs educational programs with the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program, GenOUT, and Children’s Chorus of Washington, and founded The Thirteen’s Vocal Fellows Program for early-career singers who have encountered obstacles in pursuing their craft.
Robertson’s nine recordings with The Thirteen include Monteverdi: The ‘Lost’ Vespers of 1650 and The Outer Edge of Youth, of which Gramophone wrote, “Robertson’s pacing is faultless, and he shows how silences and breaths are as important in this music as the notes themselves.” He appears regularly on WETA Classical and as a rotating host of WWFM’s Sounds Choral.
Robertson served as Director of Music at Bradley Hills Church in Bethesda, Maryland where he led much of the choral-orchestral oeuvre. He is a Trustee of the Denyce Graves Foundation and has served on the board of the D.C.-area chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the faculty of Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. Robertson holds an M.M. in conducting from Westminster Choir College and was the Robert P. Fountain Scholar at Oberlin Conservatory. A native Washingtonian, his early musical formation included studies with Norman Scribner, J. Reilly Lewis, and Stan Engebretson.