STATEMENT. The PTSO reminds me a lot of the community band I played in when I was in high school. As a young oboist, I got to sit next to my teacher each week learning challenging music that pushed me to grow as a musician, but more importantly, what really stuck with me was the camaraderie and friendship shared by members of the band. I think there’s something special that happens when a group of people with wildly different backgrounds, interests, and musical abilities come together to celebrate their sense of community by working toward a shared goal of creating something beautiful. Much of my professional career has been dedicated to working with similar kinds of groups, and I’m excited to experience the community that exists within the PTSO.

BIOGRAPHY. There is a version of the American orchestral canon that has largely disappeared from concert halls. As Founder and Music Director of the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra and Music Director of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, Matthew Salvaggio programs it anyway.

He founded the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra in 2021 (its first concert in May 2022) to challenge the conventions of orchestral programming and expand what a professional ensemble can be. Performances take place across greater Cleveland with free admission; the orchestra receives annual support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and its audience has grown each season. In a review of programs that included Hanson’s Symphony No. 3 and Anna Clyne’s This Moment, Cleveland Classical’s Stephanie Manning wrote that his “love for the material was evident.” The ensemble commissions and premieres new work, including the world premiere of Griffin Candey’s Double Aviary for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra in November 2023, and leads ongoing commissioning consortia. The 2025–26 season brought Legacy of Light: In Tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas and the Spirit of American Music, performed April 11, 2026 — eleven days before MTT’s death on April 22.

As Music Director of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, Salvaggio leads the flagship Youth Symphony while overseeing eleven ensembles and an artistic staff serving more than 750 students, 84 percent from minority-majority backgrounds. A 72 percent rise in auditions over two seasons prompted the addition of two new ensembles in 2024–25, creating space for 132 new students and reducing long-standing waitlists. Alumni have earned places at conservatories in the United States and abroad, including Eastman, Curtis, Juilliard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Through the Bridges Initiative, formally launched in fall 2025 and backed by a $200,000 Curiosity Pass grant from 4Culture, BYSO brings free music education directly to students. The program currently serves more than 400 students across three school districts and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue through individual lessons and group workshops, with priority given to Title I schools.

Before these appointments, he served as Music Director of the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, where he expanded the season from four programs to five, broadened the repertoire with regular commissions, and established both the Tom Baker Young Artists’ Competition and an assistant conductor mentorship program. Earlier appointments include the Erie Junior Philharmonic and the University Heights Symphonic Band, both as Music Director, along with professorships in conducting at Mercyhurst University, Hiram College, and Lakeland Community College.

In October 2025, he made his debut with the Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, conducting the “Bellevue Festa Latina” concert; he has also conducted at Severance Hall in Cleveland and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. His work has brought him to the podium alongside Alan Baer (Principal Tuba, New York Philharmonic), John Rautenberg (former Associate Principal Flute, Cleveland Orchestra), John DiCesare (Principal Tuba, Seattle Symphony), Joshua Lauretig (Second Oboe, Buffalo Philharmonic), and Ken Johnston (former Concertmaster, Erie Philharmonic).

The American symphonic tradition of the twentieth century sits at the center of Salvaggio’s artistic practice. He programs Hanson, Creston, and Diamond because he finds the music compelling and believes its near-disappearance from most concert seasons is a real loss. In November 2023, he conducted the premiere recording of Robert Gross’s Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Nine Instruments on Penumbra, released on New Focus Recordings. Michael Tilson Thomas shaped much of how Salvaggio understands that tradition; he followed MTT’s work closely for years, attended his final concert with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025, and built the CRO’s 2025–26 tribute program from a long-held admiration for what MTT gave to American musical life.

A second-prize winner of The American Prize in Conducting, Salvaggio has been covered by Cleveland Classical and Erie News Now and has spoken on programming, leadership, and the role of orchestral institutions on the ClassicalQueer, Podium Time, and Everything Band podcasts.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Akron and a Master of Music in Conducting from Kent State University, where he studied with Scott Seaton and Wayne Gorder. That undergraduate background in the social sciences informs how he thinks about orchestras and the communities they serve. Additional conducting study in symposia with Mallory Thompson, Donald Hunsberger, Kenneth Kiesler, and Craig Kirchhoff, among others.