Dr. Matt Ward is currently in his third year of teaching at Carolina Forest High School. He teaches Piano 1 & 2, Musical Theatre, and AP Music Theory. He is excited to have joined the Fine and Performing Arts Faculty at Carolina Forest, and knows there are many great things to come in his future at CFHS. He is originally from Tabor City, NC, and presently lives in Myrtle Beach. During his high school career, Dr. Ward studied theatre and music under the direction of Mr. Wayne Canady. While in high school, he performed in The Fantastiks, The Secret Garden, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He also participated in many of the choral activities, and was a member of the band. He studied piano with Mrs. Donna Sanders for 10 years.
He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance. He obtained his Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from West Virginia University. He completed his certification in K-12 Music at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
As a professional musician, Dr. Ward has performed with many orchestras across the Eastern United States. He has performed with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra, River Cities Symphony Orchestra, Long Bay Symphony, Beaver Valley Philharmonic, Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, and the Carolina Philharmonic. He freelances all over North and South Carolina.
At Carolina Forest he has directed Harvey, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, And, Wit, God of Carnage, Talley's Folly and Xanadu. He has also assisted with Phantom of the Opera and Ragtime.