Mathew Edwardsen hails from Indianapolis, Indiana and lived for many of his formative years near Springfield, Illinois. His musical journey began when his older brother inspired him to join the school choir in 7th grade and thus began the path to a lifelong love of singing.

In high school, Mathew started private vocal instruction and began performing in musicals, where he discovered an affinity for acting and starring on stage. He subsequently graduated from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, receiving a well-rounded foundation in music, stage craft and dance. It was here that his unbridled passion for music turned towards opera!

Upon graduation, the Muses drew him to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor in television and film. During this period he performed in numerous stage productions, student films, including an appearance on the television game show "The Dating Game".

Fortunately fate intervened again, when he met esteemed vocal specialist Joann C. Zajac. She re-introduced him to opera and her instruction enabled him to develop a solid vocal technique, completing the delicate transition from baritone to tenor.

The beginning of Mathew's operatic journey truly began when he performed as an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera. There he took the stage in the role of the Captain, while covering Marcus Haddock in the principle tenor role of Gabrielle Adorno in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. This gave him the opportunity to work alongside such legendary opera stars as Patricia Racette and Mark Delevan. The following summer he was a Gerdine Young Artist, with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He was a finalist in 2008 and 2009's Irene Dalis vocal competition, has twice been awarded in the Palm Springs Opera Guild competition and was both a Western Regional Finalist and New England District Encouragement Award winner, in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

This year has seen Mathew make many company and role debuts, starting with Sarasota Opera in Florida. There he covered Turiddu/Canio in their production of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci and performed the roles of 2nd Priest/1st Man in Armor in their production of Die Zauberflöte. In April he had his Tulsa Opera debut as Juan, in Massenet's Don Quichotte, and in May he returned to the role of Pinkerton with Muddy River Opera's Madama Butterfly, starring Michèle Crider. In August he makes his debut as Gherman in Tchaikovsky's Pikovaya Dama with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis before making his Toledo Opera debut in Ariadne auf Naxos in October.

Last year saw Mathew starring in debut roles of Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, with Opera Santa Barbara and Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, with Livermore Valley Opera. He made his San Francisco Bay Area debut as Pinkerton in West Bay Opera's production of Madama Butterfly in May, before heading north to Alaska for Opera Fairbanks' production of Tosca, with Metropolitan Opera artist Cynthia Lawrence. Edwardsen began last year with a mini-tour of Alfredo in La Traviata, with the Bakersfield Symphony, Roswell Symphony and Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mathew has also performed recently as Tamino in Opera Santa Barbara's production of Die Zauberflöte, Don José in Carmen with Pacific Repertory Opera and the Duke in Rigoletto with Center Stage Opera. He has already tackled other challenging operatic roles, such as Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Nemorino from L'elisir d'amore, and Rodolfo in La Bohème. More diverse roles include Rinuccio and Luigi in Puccini's Il Trittico, Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the world premiere of Frank LaTalle in The Tree, Macduff in Macbeth, Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress, and Nanki-Poo in The Mikado. His extensive concert work includes performances with the Monterey Opera Orchestra, Torrance Symphony and New West Symphony.

Next year, Mathew is looking forward to returning to Sarasota to sing Arvino in I Lombardi alla prima crociata and Judge Danforth in The Crucible, before returning to Pinkerton in California and being involved in the world premiere production of Marie's Orchard by Philip Westin, in Los Angeles. He currently resides in the great metropolis of San Francisco.