Matthew Armstrong began teaching at San Marcos High School in 2004 and in 2015 accepted the position of Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the San Marcos Unified School District. Named San Marcos High School Teacher of the Year and San Marcos Unified Teacher of the Year in 2013 as well as Music Educator of the Year for California Music Educators Association in 2015, he is a sought-after performer, clinician and arts advocate. Along with guest conducting appearances statewide, he has had the honor of being an annual guest conductor for the Cuban National Concert Band in Havana since 2017.
In 2015, Mr. Armstrong founded the San Diego Percussion Festival, which partners with the San Diego Symphony, Yamaha and the Percussive Arts Society to provide a quality concert percussion performance experience for students across San Diego and Southern California. Over the past 15 years, his percussion ensembles have performed several times at the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival. Mr. Armstrong is a member of Percussive Arts Society, California Music Educators Association and NAfME. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist as well as an artist with Vic Firth and Zildjian.
As a performer Mr. Armstrong has been a freelance musician in San Diego for the past two decades with ensembles that include Camarada, Chameleons, San Diego Chamber Orchestras, Westwind Brass, Presidio Brass, Seaside Brass and California Chamber Orchestra as Principal Percussion, as well as for numerous corporate clients.
