Matt Haimovitz was born in 1970 in Israel. He began to learn the cello at the age of seven with Gabor Rejto in California. When Matt was only twelve years old, his mentor Itzhak Perlman introduced him to the great artist and teacher, Leonard Rose. Rose was so impressed by his playing that he described him as "probably the greatest talent I have ever taught", praising his "ravishingly beautiful tone" and "unusual sense of style and musical sensitivity". In 1983 Matt Haimovitz took up his studies with Leonard Rose at the Julliard School.

In February 1985 Matt Haimovitz joined Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert which was filmed and broadcast by Israel national television. This success was followed in 1986 by an American tour with Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, as well as concerts with the New York Philharmonic. In the same year Matt Haimovitz had the unusual distinction of being the youngest artist ever to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant Award for exceptional musical achievement. Since then he has appeared throughout America, including with the orchestras of New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal and Toronto. He has worked with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinpoli, Seiji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Charles Dutoit, Andrew Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman and Pinchas Zuckerman. In 1985 he joined Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz, Pinchas Zukerman and Mstislav Rostropovich at Canegie Hall for a performance of the Schubert Quintet in C major, followed two years later by a performance of the Brahms Sextets with Isaac Stern, Cho-Liang Lin, Jaime Laredo, Michael Tree and Yo-Yo Ma.

In Europe Matt Haimovitz has also performed with many of the foremost orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris. He has given recitals in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain and Portugal, most recently at the Concertgebouw and the Salle Gaveau, Paris.

Whilst enjoying the interpretation of classical repertoire, he also enjoys contemporary works, some of which he has recorded, and programmes of improvisation which he has undertaken with the Kronos Quartet, bassist Rob Wasserman, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan and Branford Marsalis.

Matt Haimovitz signed an exclusive contract with DGG in 1987 at the age of seventeen. His début recording, Bruch's Kol Nidrei and concertos by Saint-Saëns and Lalo with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was followed by recordings of concertos by CPE Bach, Haydn, and Boccherini with the English Chamber Orchestra under Andrew Davis. In recent years Matt Haimovitz has turned his attention to recording works by contemporary composers. His first solo recital of works by George Crumb, Benjamin Britten, Max Reger and Gyorgy Ligeti, awarded the Grand Prix International by the Académie Charles Cros in 1992, was followed in 1995 by a recording of Debussy, Britten and Webern will be released shortly.

Matt Haimovitz is currently studying at Harvard in the USA.

He plays a Max Gofrillo cello.