Colin Matthews

Colin Matthews was born in London in 1946. He studied at the Universities of Nottingham and Sussex, and subsequently worked as assistant to Benjamin Britten, and with Imogen Holst. He collaborated with Deryck Cooke from 1963 until 1975 on the performing version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony. Over four decades his music has ranged from solo piano music through to five string quartets and many ensemble and orchestral works.

From 1992-9 he was Associate Composer with the LSO, writing amongst other works a Cello Concerto for Rostropovich. In 1997 his choral/orchestral Renewal, commissioned for the 50th anniversary of BBC Radio 3, was given an RPS Award. He was Composer-in-Association with the Hallé from 2001-10, now their Composer Emeritus, making for them his orchestrations of Debussy’s 24 Preludes.

He is Founder and Executive Producer of NMC Recordings, Administrator of the Holst Foundation and Music Director of Britten-Pears Arts. Together with Oliver Knussen he founded the Aldeburgh Composition Course in 1992, and has been composition director of the LSO’s Panufnik Scheme since 2005. He is Prince Consort Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music.