BIOGRAPHY

Matthew began to play the organ at the age of five, and has played for church services since the age of nine. He graduated with first-class honours from Durham University, where he was awarded an organ scholarship at the College of St Hild and St Bede, and also completed a Masters degree at Sheffield University. Matthew has held a number of organist posts, including Organ Scholar of Chichester Cathedral and Organist of St Peter Mancroft, Norwich. Since 2009, he has worked as a freelance organist based in his native county of South Yorkshire. He is presently Organist and Director of Music at St Margaret's Church, Swinton, a position he has held since 2020.

Matthew has a wealth of experience of playing in a whole variety of settings, from the smallest church services to live radio broadcasts and large-scale civic services. He is proficient both as a soloist and an accompanist.

Matthew is an experienced teacher, who has guided many pupils to proficiency and into posts as church organists. He has previously been responsible for training organists on diocesan scholarship schemes as well as teaching privately. Matthew has presented courses and lectures on playing the organ and church music both in the UK and abroad.

He is also a diploma-qualified pianist who was awarded prizes for piano performance, and performs both as a concert soloist and as an accompanist to choirs, singers and instrumentalists.