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(Left) Matthew Hua, (Center) Carlos Simon, and (Right) Dan Brown at the Kennedy Center's Washington National Opera April 2023 premiere of "Don't Let The Pigeon Sing Up Late!" This opera is based on the book "Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late!" by a
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The end of a rehearsal with the company of "The Mortification of Fovea Munson", a musical commissioned by The Kennedy Center's Theater for Young Audiences. The musical premiered in February 2023 and was based on Mary Winn Heider's novel of the same
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The Kennedy Center's production of "The Ice Cream Truck is Broken & Other Emotional Arias" featured the world-premiere of Carlos Simon's new opera "Don't Let The Pigeon Sing Up Late!" Matthew assisted Carlos in the development of the opera and worke
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Music for The Kennedy Center's "The Mortification of Fovea Munson" was recorded at Bias Studios in Springfield, VA and engineered by Tom Tyra (behind Matthew). Pictured: (front) Steven Tran, (left) Brent Brickhead, (sitting, left) Johnny Walker Jr.
Matthew attended the DC Shorts International Film Festival and continues to volunteer in running the festival.

Biography

Matthew Hua (he/him) is a hard-of-hearing, multi-genre composer for media based in Chicago. His work spans film, television, and concert settings, drawing on a deeply intentional relationship with sound shaped in part by his asymmetric hearing loss. His disability is an integral part of his identity and artistic perspective, an attribute that informs how he listens, writes, and collaborates.

He is currently pursuing an MFA in Music Composition for the Screen at Columbia College Chicago. Matthew is also a recipient of the NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarship awarded by the American Association of People with Disabilities and a Fellow in Disability Belongs’ 2026 Entertainment Lab, where he was selected as the program’s first composer in its eight-year history.

Recent projects include MANNY (Raymond Taylor, 2026), DREAMER (Megan Brod, 2026), and HELL’S DOOR (Amir Edwards, 2026), alongside additional music for VOXRAPTOR (Raymond Taylor, 2025) and assistant roles on DON’T LET THE PIGEON SING UP LATE! (Carlos Simon & Mo Willems, 2023) and THE MORTIFICATION OF FOVEA MUNSON (Steven Tran & Justin Huertas, 2023), both at The Kennedy Center.

Matthew has held roles at The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, Capital City Symphony, and The American Pops Orchestra, spanning music preparation, orchestra management, librarianship, and production. When he is not working, Matthew can be found introducing friends to new board games, getting mileage for his runs, and finding new heights.

Photo (right) by Zayden German Photography.