Matthew Hultgren

My primary identity is that of a theater arts educator, one who specializes in nurturing the expressive craftwork of performing artists and oral communicators. With nearly a decade as a professional acting, voice, and dialect coach,  I work directly with students, actors, and public speakers to bridge the gap between practical training, critical inquiry, and dramatic performance. I have taught and coached students of all ages (5-85 years old), of all levels (beginners & Tony Award winners), and in six states and four different countries around the world. 

My background - as an actor, singer, dancer, and collaborator of twenty+ years - allows me to address essential acting skills, such as physicality, breath usage, phonation, articulation, presence, focus, and psychological action. I approach classwork with an intuitive understanding of these challenges, and combine students' individual experiences, perspectives, and skills with my own, creating a practical methodology unique to our particular ensemble, setting, and agreed-upon goals. My diverse training makes me a generalist and a pragmatist. As such, I offer students opportunities to experiment with exercises from multiple established techniques - Alexander, Michael Chekhov, Fitzmaurice, Uta Hagen, Knight-Thompson, Laban, Linklater, Meisner, Practical Aesthetics, Rodenburg, Spolin, Stanislavski, and Viewpoints (to name a few). 

Selected Institutional Teaching: University of the Arts; Muhlenberg College; Seton Hall University; Northwestern University; Moscow Art Theatre School; Ludwik Solski Academy; Tufts University; American Repertory Theater Institute; Harvard University. 

Selected Production Coaching: Arden Theatre Company; Passage Theatre; Resident Theater Company; Azuka Theatre; Quintessence Theatre Group; Tribe of Fools; National Constitution Center; St. Joe's Prep; Blue Mercury; The Antidote; Simpatico Theatre Co.; Madison Square Productions. 

Professional Memberships: ATHE, VASTA, and AEA (former member, 2008-2011)