A Washington, D.C. native, Matthew Robertson oversees the music program at Bradley Hills, conducting many of the church’s ensembles and overseeing the music staff. Additionally, Robertson plays the organ for services, leads Bradley Hills Presents concert series, and the church’s resident orchestra.

Noted for boundary-defying performances that “transfigure the listener” (The Washington Post), for his “incisive tempos and dramatic pacing” (Washington Classical Review), “flowing lines and dramatic climaxes” (Fanfare Magazine, UK), and for recordings which are “exquisite in every way” (Gramophone), Robertson’s kaleidoscopic artistic vision has led to acclaimed performances of a vast and varied repertoire, often featuring inspired use of staging and multimedia. Robertson’s imagination led to being awarded the Most Creative Programming Award from the Greater Washington Area Choral Music Awards.

Drawing on his deep commitment to addressing important issues of our time, Robertson’s programming frequently tackles the topics of ecology and systemic racism. His staged 2021 performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion addressed the theme of systemic racism and was called “an indictment of injustice” (The Washington Post). He frequently commissions underrepresented voices, including composers Juhi Bansal, Melissa Dunphy, Lori Laitman, Trevor Weston, and Jonathan Woody. As Artistic Director of the professional choir and orchestra, The Thirteen, in 2019 he created The Thirteen’s Vocal Fellows Program, an initiative for young singers from underrepresented demographics.  

Committed to fostering the next generation of musicians and music lovers, Robertson has led educational residencies at more than twenty colleges and universities, including Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and The University of Maryland – College Park (where he led a staged performance of Johannes Brahms’ Requiem).  Additional guest appearances include the Association of Anglican [Episcopal] Musicians.

Leading the Bradley Hills Choir and Orchestra of the Hills, Robertson has performed much of J.S. Bach’s oeuvre; the requiems of Brahms, Duruflé, Fauré, and Mozart; Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Buxtehude’s Jesu membra nostri, Carissimi’s Jephte, and many other masterworks. Robertson is a Trustee of the Denyce Graves Foundation, has also served on the Board of the DC area chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association, and the faculty of Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. Robertson holds a M.M. in conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where he studied with Andrew Megill and Joe Miller, and was the Robert P. Fountain scholar at Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with Bridget Reischl and Robert Spano. A native Washingtonian, Robertson’s early musical formation included studies with Norman Scribner, J. Reilly Lewis, and Stan Engebretson.