A native of Wichita, Kansas, Matthew M. Honas received a Bachelor of Arts Summa cum Laude in music composition and piano performance with a minor in German at Kansas State University. During his time there, he studied composition with Craig Weston and piano performance with Sławomir Dobrzański. Honas received his masters and doctorate in music composition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied with the 2023 American Academy of Arts recipient, Laura Schwendinger. In 2022, Honas published his dissertation, Symphony No. 1: Wolga Sinfonie. 

During his time at University, Honas worked with and studied from many great composers. He had lessons with John Harbison, Melinda Wagner, Paul Chihara, Sebastian Currier, James Aikman, Elliot Cole, and more. He also had masterclasses with Kurt Rohde, Mikel Kuehn, Scott Wheeler, Augusta Read Thomas, Caroline Shaw, David Gompper, Kyong Mee Choi, Laurie San Martin, Nathan Currier, Lorne Balfe, among others.

While in Madison, Honas’ works were performed on many occasions. In 2022, the first movement of his dissertation won honorary mention in the UW-Madison concerto competition. His piece, Dikterens Mjød, won the WiSH award for the premiere of a collaborative work that helped to increase awareness surrounding musical cultures and techniques. As part of the opening ceremonies, Honas’ music was selected to be performed at the premiere concert at the opening of the Hamel Music Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. Honas also received the 2020 Mullen prize for Sacred Music for his piece, Contemplations et Refléxions: Une Priére. Alongside these awards, his music has been performed at the New York Flute Fair, the Madison Flute Festival, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the Moreau Center for the Arts, the Hidden Cave Cidery, the Mead-Witter Foundation Hall, McCain Auditorium, and the Beach Museum of Art.

An important aspect of Honas’ compositional work comes through collaborations. Honas has collaborated with the Third Coast Chamber Collective, Duo Sequenza, the UW-Madison Flute Department, the Neume Ensemble, GRAMMY award-winning soprano Sarah Brailey, Eric Tran of the acclaimed Happy Dog Duo, Anna Fisher-Roberts, Hack K-State, TheFifthWaffle independent video game company, and the Kansas State University Dance Department.