Matt is the host of All Things Considered on West Virginia Public Radio, a composer and a classical music host. He wrote, recorded, and produced two new themes for the West Virginia Public Radio news magazine, West Virginia Morning, which feature folk influences. He has recently finished the themes for news programs The Legislature Today as well as West Virginia Talks. He is also currently working on music for the West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentaries on Poverty and Senator Jay Rockefeller IV.
Matt is the son of Jennifer Jackfert and the late Dr. Kent Jackfert. He completed his undergraduate Composition degree at West Virginia University, while studying under Dr. John Beall, as well as his undergraduate Chinese degree. He finished his Master's in Composition at University of Texas in Austin having studied under Daniel Welcher, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Russell Pinkston, Donald Grantham, and Bruce Pennycook. He continues to compose for concert music and film and media scoring.
Jackfert has been played by several ensembles in and around West Virginia including the WVU Wind Symphony, WVU Symphony Orchestra, the West Virginia University Choir, the River Cities Orchestra, Waynesburg University, Marshall University Wind Symphony, West Virginia Youth Symphony, and Geroge Washington High School Band, among others. In addition, his symphonic work, Ripples, was read by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Two of his works have been selected for the Society of Composers (SCI) National Student Conference and SEAMUS National Conference. In May of 2014, Jackfert's "On the Shores of Qingdao" was played by the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Charleston, WV at the Clay Center. Between 2012 and 2013 he was named director of the award-winning a capella choir, Collegium Musicum, at the University of Texas in Austin.
Jackfert has recently started creating film and media scores for various projects. Some of those include the score for the iOS game, I Dig It: Journey to the Core, developed by Austin-based company, InMotion Software as well as music for the award-winning short film, My Super Valentine, by filmmaker Jing Yang.
