On September 13, Seraphic Fire takes the stage at The Parker in Ft. Lauderdale for Pure Imagination, a special educational concert designed to introduce young audiences to the possibilities of the human voice.
Leading the ensemble is Dr. Matthew Brady, a conductor, educator, and longtime admirer of Seraphic Fire whose own path in music began with a childhood moment he still remembers vividly. Ahead of his Seraphic Fire conducting debut, we spoke with Brady about finding his calling, what makes a great conductor, and why a song as familiar as “Let It Go” can open the door to something entirely new.
Finding a Life in Music
How did you know conducting was the career path you wanted to follow?
I played violin from kindergarten through eighth grade. My older sister was in choir and said she found her best friends there, and my older brother sang, too. In high school, I joined the choir instead of the orchestra.
At the end of high school, I was considering the medical field. I worked at the University of Michigan Hospital as a surgical tech and figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I came from a family of teachers, and I wanted to do anything but that because I saw my dad working two jobs.
I kept coming back to music and education because that is who I really was.
I went to Western Michigan University, where I found my people and an incredibly supportive faculty at the School of Music. That is where I started to conduct.
I still love singing and being part of an ensemble, but I am a teacher at heart. A good conductor is part scholar, part singer, part artist. I love diving into the “whys” behind music. When I look at a score, my brain starts to do what I call “decomposing.” I try to figure out what makes it tick. What is the composer trying to communicate? How do I allow the ensemble to see that?
I feel like conducting picked me. I do not feel like I picked it.
Getting Out of the Way
What do you find most rewarding about conducting?
You have influence on the sound when you are conducting, but if you do a great job in the rehearsal process, a conductor can basically stay out of the way.
When Seraphic Fire performed the Bach motets last year, I sat on Patrick Quigley’s right side. I will never forget how he gave small stress points and very little else after bringing in the ensemble. They had a collective understanding of what needed to happen, and he could get out of the way and remind them of the larger ideas.
I think that is brilliant. Is that not the goal of conducting and teaching, to allow the artists to be the conduit of the music to the audience?
It is rewarding when the message the singers are trying to communicate actually reaches the hearts of the audience.
Creating a Musical Spark
What do you hope young audiences take away from Pure Imagination?
Everybody performing in Seraphic Fire has had a moment when music reached out to them so intensely that it put a question in their soul: Should I do this with my life?
Seraphic Fire can have that kind of impact. Some of these students have never seen a live professional music performance. Maybe some of them have this talent and reach the next level, or at least see what it takes to be a professional musician.
I will never forget when it happened for me. I was in kindergarten, sitting in church and watching a violinist play. After the service, I told my mom, “I want to do that.”
I am really proud of Seraphic Fire for caring about the next generation. They are one of the best choirs in the United States, and here we are singing “Let It Go.”
Initially, when James Bass talked to me about it, I said, “Are you kidding, James? You want me to do what? This choir can sing anything. Why this?” Then James and I talked about it, and I got an entirely different perspective.
We have a few surprises planned. There may even be some interactive moments with various songs. It won't be a “sit and listen to us” experience.
How are you approaching your Seraphic Fire conducting debut?
I have been to countless Seraphic Fire concerts and followed the ensemble's trajectory. Now my former teacher, James Bass, is giving me this opportunity. It is like he is saying, “Okay, you can drive the car, but make sure it does not get any dings.”
I feel that responsibility, and I am really excited about this project.
Years ago, I saw Seraphic Fire perform live in Kalamazoo. I watched Matt Tresler and Derek Chester perform Duo Seraphim, and I am still speechless thinking about it.
Seraphic Fire has that same opportunity with these kids. It might be “Let It Go.” It might be “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
I take my three-year-old daughter to school every morning. She is now on her fourth Elsa dress because she wears one nearly every day, and we listen to and sing “Let It Go.” Recently, she told me, “Dad, I wanna listen to ‘Let It Go’ by Pentatonix.” Her favorite version is not the one from the movie.
Some kids may never have heard this music any other way than through Elsa. Now they are going to hear what Seraphic Fire can do with it.
That is an immense opportunity to create a memory and perhaps inspire a young person the same way music once inspired me.
Experience Pure Imagination with Seraphic Fire on September 13 at The Parker in Ft. Lauderdale. Visit SeraphicFire.org to learn more about the concert and the 2026–27 season.
