Matt Hightower
An award-winning teacher, performer, and composer, Matt Hightower is the Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music. Prior to his appointment at Indiana, Hightower held similar positions at Florida State University, University of Kentucky and Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
An avid chamber musician, Hightower is a member of the Emerald Brass Quintet and has previously been a member of the Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and University of Kentucky Brass Quintets. He has also performed with the Lexington Philharmonic Brass Quintet, the Mirari Brass Quintet, the Atlas Tuba Quartet, Backburner Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, and Concert:Nova
Some of his credits as a large ensemble performer include appearances with The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, The Louisville Ballet, the Lexington Philharmonic, the Sarasota Symphony Orchestra, former principal tubist with the Tallahassee Symphony, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Bach Festival, the WCIT World Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia, and David Baker’s 20th Century Bebop Band.
A strong advocate for the entrepreneurial 21st-century musician, Hightower has built a career that spans the full spectrum of music making—from composing and arranging to recording and performance. His debut album, Re(in)spiration (2019), was a finalist for the 2021 International Tuba Euphonium Association Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording. The International Tuba Euphonium Association Journal praised the album for illustrating Hightower’s “outstanding skills as a performer and artist” and for showcasing his “total control of the horn, concrete fundamentals, and musical sincerity.” His second album, Rapid Run, a multitracked tuba–euphonium recording of his own compositions and arrangements, won the 2025 ITEA Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording (Chamber Music). His third album, Renewal (2026), features new works for solo tuba. Hightower can also be heard on recordings including the University of Texas Wind Ensemble’s Wine-Dark Sea, Society of Composers, Inc.’s Flare: Vol. 32, the University of Kentucky Faculty Brass Quintet’s New Music for Brass Quintet, and the University of Kentucky Tuba–Euphonium Ensemble’s Blue Thunder, among others.
Hightower himself has been the recipient of several awards, including the 2021 and 2025 ITEA Winston Morris Award for Tuba Ensemble Composition, and the 2023 ITEA Harvey Philips Award for Excellence in Composition for tuba in a solo role.
Hightower is also a dedicated educator whose students have won prizes at the Leonard Falcone Competition, Macauley Chamber Music Competition, and various regional and International Tuba-Euphonium Conferences including the inaugural ITEA Collegiate Ensembles Competitive Showcase Competition in 2023.
As an active member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association, Hightower has performed and adjudicated at several regional and international ITEA events and hosted the 2022 Midwest Regional Conference at the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Hightower earned a BM in music education from Murray State University, an MM in tuba performance from Indiana University, and a DMA from the University of Texas at Austin. His primary instructors were Ray Conklin, Daniel Perantoni, and Charles Villarrubia, with additional instruction in the field of composition from Mike D’Ambrosio, John Fannin, and P.Q. Phan.
Matt Hightower is a B&S performing artist.
Indiana University Tuba and Euphonium Studio 