Biography
British harpsichordist, early organist, and director Matthew Brown is in demand as a continuo player, recitalist, repetiteur, vocal coach and conductor across London and beyond. A graduate of the University of Bristol (BA with First Class Honours) and Guildhall School of Music and Drama (MPerf with Distinction), Matthew has studied under various leading harpsichordists such as Carole Cerasi, James Johnstone, and Colin Booth, with masterclass coaching and individual lessons from Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Francesco Corti, Steven Devine, and Christian Curnyn, and was generously funded by the Tobacco Pipe Makers’ Company Scholarship in his Masters studies.
Matthew’s continuo playing forms the basis of his varied performing career, and he has appeared across the UK, Canada and Europe as a collaborative harpsichordist and organist. His concert appearances and continuo work have seen him collaborate with groups such as the Academy of Ancient Music, Philharmonia, Genesis Sixteen, Istante Collective, Ensemble Il Groviglio, Victoria Baroque Players, and Southern Sinfonia, under a variety of conductors including David Hill MBE, Eamonn Dougan, Julian Perkins, and Simon Chalk. His orchestral playing experience includes most major concert works, and a variety of lesser-known pieces and new commissions. Matthew’s concert work has included a number of major venues and festivals, such as the Royal Festival Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall, the Barbican Centre, the London International Festival of Early Music, the Deal Festival, and performances on the Cobbe Collection of Keyboard Instruments at Hatchlands Park. He has been a member of young artist programmes with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Young Associate Scheme), Cambridge Handel Opera Company (Talent Development Programme), and Brighton Early Music Festival Young Artists Scheme as a member of Bellot Ensemble.
Matthew is particularly at home as a continuo player in chamber music, with experience accompanying and collaborating with a wide variety of instruments and groups. He is a regular harpsichordist for Bellot Ensemble, a dynamic young chamber ensemble which performs a varied repertoire from early Italian virtuoso violin music to Haydn symphonies, and appears with them in concert and on recording, with their debut album Cupid's Ground Bass scheduled for release in early 2025. He collaborates frequently with recorder player Olivia Petryszak, and as a duo they are planning a series of album recordings and concert tours for 2025/26. His chamber repertoire includes a wide variety of music from the early 17th century to the high baroque, including major composers such as Corelli, Telemann, Bach, Handel, Marini, Merula, and more.
Fostering a special interest in vocal repertoire and opera, Matthew frequently works as a vocal coach, repetiteur and opera continuo player. His work in opera has seen him collaborate with the Cambridge Handel Opera Company, Ryedale Festival Opera, Baroquestock/Istante Collective, Hampstead Garden Opera, and Guildhall Opera, covering a variety of Baroque opera repertoire from Monteverdi to Handel. He has coached and prepared singers in collaboration with Chris Hopkins, Julian Perkins, and Eamonn Dougan, and acted as rehearsal accompanist and continuo player on a variety of productions. He is in demand and gaining several regular clients as a vocal coach and accompanist, recently delivering a masterclass on baroque singing at the University of Manchester alongside Hilary Cronin. His clients for vocal coaching have found success across Europe in early singing competitions.
Matthew’s interest in vocal repertoire led him in January 2022 to create The Queenes Chappell, a historically informed solo-voice consort of which he is Artistic Director. Presenting concerts at their home church of St Mary’s Stoke D’Abernon and across London, the group specialises in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, with members drawn from the very best of London’s young solo and consort singers, who are otherwise found with organisations such as the Monteverdi Choir, Gabrieli Consort, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, and Tenebrae. The group’s work includes regular concerts and festival appearances, and are looking forward to adding recording projects and ensemble collaborations to their diary. More information about The Queenes Chappell can be found at our website here.
As a solo harpsichordist, Matthew has received acclaim for his sensitive and engaging playing. In 2023, Matthew was the First Prize winner at the Lewis Memorial Prize competition, held at the Royal Academy of Music, with a concert of keyboard works from Musica Britannica editions. He has appeared across the UK and in Canada as a recitalist on the harpsichord and the organ, performing repertoire from William Byrd to J.S. Bach. Recital projects have included mr w birde of the chapell, a programme of English virginal music focused on William Byrd which he toured in the UK and Canada, and bach alla francese, a programme celebrating Bach's connections with keyboard composers from 17th century France.
Beginning in July 2024, Matthew has founded and served as Artistic Director of the Surrey Bach Festival. In its inaugural year at St Mary's Stoke d'Abernon, the festival proved a resounding success, presenting three headline evening concerts from The Queenes Chappell, Istante Opera, and Surrey Bach Festival Orchestra, dir. Steven Devine, as well as two lunchtime concerts; a harpsichord recital by Steven Devine, and a recital by members of the Yehudi Menuhin School. An exhibition of flower arrangements on an artistic theme of the church year complemented the musical offering, and all concerts were well attended and given strongly positive reviews. A week long festival is planned for the second year, in July 2025.
Matthew serves as Organist and Director of Music at St Mary’s Stoke D’Abernon, where he presides over the specialist baroque organ built by Danish company Frobenius in 1975, and a flourishing music department which focuses on Renaissance and Baroque liturgical repertoire. He has also worked as an editor of early music, collaborating with the English publishing company Soundboard to publish an edition of Johann Mattheson’s Die Wohlklingende Fingersprache, released in January 2021 to a warm reception. A 70 page volume of keyboard music, comprising 12 fugues and assorted dance music with a scholarly preface in English and German, this effort replaces an outdated earlier edition by Breitkopf and Härtel, and represents a formidable tool for players, researchers and academics. The edition is available for purchase here.
Instrument Hire
I own a fine harpsichord built in 2004 by the English harpsichord maker Colin Booth, which is available for concert hire. It is a beautiful single-strung Italian harpsichord after Italian models of the 16th and early 17th century, built in cedar of Lebanon and spruce wood and strung in brass. The compass is GG/BB - d’, and transposes between A415-A440. The instrument produces a warm and resonant, but nevertheless brilliant and striking tone.The instrument is best suited for chamber music and solo music of appropriate repertoire, given its small size, but would certainly also be useful in larger ensembles as a second harpsichord or part of a large continuo section.Hiring the instrument generally includes delivery, pre-rehearsal and pre-concert tuning, but this can be adjusted as necessary for individual requirements.Please get in contact to discuss your individual hiring needs.
Contact
Please do get in contact with inquiries about performing, collaboration, instrument hire or tuning.I can be contacted by email: [email protected], and at the links below.
Media
Calendar
Keep up to date with my events and schedule here.