Dark Dining Room started in Matthew Larsen’s old apartment in Easthampton, Massachusetts in 2005. He’s a musician who underwent a stem cell transplant and high-dose chemo to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Recovery was slow and isolating– he couldn’t be around crowds of people or in a place that compromised his immune system. So he invited folks over to play some music. As he got better, these shows evolved.
They’ve been held in living rooms, galleries, offices, a 28-room mansion that is now a museum. There was even a Dark Dining Room Tour across the U.S. in 2016.
Matthew has been cancer-free since 2005.