All are invited to join the students in the course, Writing About Music, for a lecture/performance by Matt Lorenz (Hampshire alum, '01), aka "Suitcase Junket." Matt will be performing original songs in a Q&A format. 

Matt Lorenz is a nationally renown multi-instrumentalist/vocalist, composer, and performer.  He's also an instrument builder whose "adaptive instrument design" makes use of found objects.  At Hampshire, Matt Lorenz will give a lecture/demonstration that combines performance of his original music and song with discussion and Q&A.

Growing up in Cavendish, Vermont, Matt began playing piano at age five, and later took up violin, saxophone, and guitar. During his years at Hampshire College, he studied music and adaptive instrument design, a pursuit that included building a prototype for a drummer who couldn’t use their legs. Matt's design enabled the drummer to play the bass drum and hi-hat through a pulley system. "The Suitcase Junket" is a nod to Matt's longtime love of collecting old suitcases, including one antique that he’s refurbished into a bass drum, as well as to a secondary definition of "junket," e.g. “a pleasure excursion."  The Suitcase Junket features Matt performing his original songs and accompanying himself on on guitar, drum kit, and other percussion instruments.

Matt has released six albums, the most recent of which -- THE END IS NEW -- is produced by Steve Berlin who performs with the renown west coast band, Los Lobos. THE END IS NEW is released by Renew Records/BMG.  Lorenz tours extensively, performing locally, nationally, and internationally, and is also a visual artist:  in the early years he designed all The Suitcase Junket album art and merchandise and made the music videos generated with his songs.