Matthew Guard

Matthew Guard is a choral conductor, arranger, and artistic director known for his innovative approach to the choral arts. Founder and leader of the chamber choir Skylark, Guard has earned recognition for his story-driven programming that weaves together historical texts and musical scores into compelling narratives. He has led the group on nearly a dozen recordings, such as 2026's Shades of Blue: Choral Music of Mark Van Overmeire. Born in Atlanta, Guard grew up during the years when Robert Shaw was shaping the city's choral life, and it was while studying at Harvard that he first discovered his interest in conducting. He sang in student ensembles and studied music theory and conducting, although music was not his degree when he graduated in 2002. Rather than pursuing music immediately, he attended business school in Atlanta and spent several years working in management consulting, continuing to sing in church choirs while considering a return to music. After a few years, he decided to make the change. In 2011, he founded the Skylark Vocal Ensemble in Atlanta, an a cappella group known for thematic programs built around historical research. The ensemble later moved its base to Massachusetts and developed a performing and recording career centered on distinctive concept albums. Skylark self-published its first albums beginning in 2014. The first to utilize a thematic program was 2016's Crossing Over. Once Upon a Time, released in 2020, combined narration from classic texts with newly written incidental music by composer Benedict Sheehan. Guard and Sheehan continued their collaboration with A Christmas Carol, a choral adaptation of Dickens' story first released by Sono Luminus with narrator Sarah Walker in 2021. They later turned to wartime repertoire for Clear Voices in the Dark, pairing Civil War-era American folk songs, including arrangements by Guard himself, with Poulenc's Figure humaine, another war-time work. Under Guard's direction, Skylark's recordings have repeatedly reached the top ten of classical charts and received multiple Grammy nominations. In December 2025, Skylark released a new recording of A Christmas Carol, with Guard adapting Dickens' original 1843 text for narration by actor Christine Baranski. ~ Prince Iwundu