Matt Chan

Matt Chan, a software engineer at Microsoft, started singing chant and polyphony at St Michael’s Choir School in Toronto in grade four. Most of his time was spent singing with the cathedral choir, but he also sang at concerts at Massey Hall and went on tour around the continent. After high school, he took a break from choral music to study chemistry and computer science in Ottawa, and then quantum chemistry in Hamilton. Upon leaving grad school, he moved to the Bay Area to work as a software engineer. While he was there, he volunteered as a cantor at Our Lady of Peace and rediscovered his love for chant and polyphony at Mater Dolorosa parish in Jennifer Donelson’s schola. In 2024, Microsoft moved him to Seattle, and he started volunteering with the Cantorei soon after. The most memorable pieces with the Cantorei to him have been the 10 renditions of Ave Maria, Kile Smith’s Jesus Stood on the Shore, Handel’s Messiah, and various polyphonic mass ordinaries.