Information About Matthew - Hastings teacher

Personal Description:

I have recently finished a PhD in philosophy and music composition (supr. Dr. Simon Mawhinney, Belfast); my research title is "Counting over time: Approaching the enumeration of maximal combinatorial systems through the phenomenology of temporal consciousness." The research explores the temporal implications that system music presents for the listener, in relation to my own work and in the wider context of experimental and minimalist music. In 2022, I published my first book 'At this moment in time: Philosophical perspectives on sound' and am currently working on a new book on experimental music composition.

Previously, I studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a scholarship under Laurence Crane (previously Dr James Weeks). I was composer in association with the City Chamber Choir and have had my music performed and workshopped by the likes of the BBC singers, EXAUDI, Line Upon Line, Lakeside Brass, Harvard University, sections of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the clarinettist Heather Roche, the organist Carson Cooman and the contemporary pianist Satoko Inoue. I studied organ through the Royal College of Organists at the University of Sussex under James Lloyd Thomas and under Simon Williams at St George's, Hanover Square. I am currently composer-in-residence with the London Baroque Orchestra and the South-East Symphony Orchestra.

As an organist and conductor, I've played and conducted at Cathedrals such as Westminster (Cathedral and Abbey), Southwark, St Pauls, Canterbury, Peterborough, Liverpool, St Albans, Rochester, Guildford, Winchester, Salisbury, Belfast, Oxford, Hereford and abroad in Paris and Belgium. I was choral director for the Queen's Consort and the Mossgrove singers, and have previously worked as a director for the Guildhall Schola Cantorum, the London Conservatoire Singers and the St Agnes Liturgical Choir. I am a Fellow of the Society of Crematorium Organists (FSCO), a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and the Royal College of Organists. From 2015-2021, I held the position of director of music at St Agnes Church, Kennington Park. Currently, I am Director of Music at the historic Old Town Parish in Hastings, East Sussex, where I run the senior choir and the junior choir, including the RSCM Voice for Life scheme.

With an interest in arts management, I am currently Executive Producer of the Southern Cathedrals Festival (SCF), overseeing the festival events at Salisbury, Winchester and Chichester cathedrals. Prior to this appointment, I worked for the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast both in the fundraising team and within the Learning and Community Engagement (LCE) department.

​I was recently fortunate enough to be chosen for BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Voices, searching for new presenters and speech contributors for broadcast, and worked for a number of years on local radio in London. I also managed and hosted the Kennington Park Recital Series, based at St Agnes Church, Kennington. In early 2021, I was asked to give a prestigious TED talk on schizophrenia and music.

My past projects include writing and curating operas (most recently funded through the Barbican), a monodrama on psychotic depression, a setting of the Passion of for orchestra and chorus and a number of substantial chamber and solo works. As well as music, I spend time cycling, visiting Churches and learning French. I live in Hastings, East Sussex and am currently in formation of becoming professed as a tertiary in the Third Order of the Society of St Francis.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been tutoring for over 10 years and have experience in both casual learners and those wanting to tackle graded examinations and diplomas. From 2021-2024, I was a teaching assistant at Queen's University Belfast, tutoring at undergraduate level to music students. For organ, I am a member of the RCO (Royal College of Music) and also the Musicians Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians.

Tutoring Approach:

For organ, I use the David Sanger approach to tuition, focusing on hand and feet independency from the beginning, something which is necessary to playing most organ music. For piano, I use the ABRSM graded examinations as a structure for teaching. For theory and composition, I produce my own exercises and worksheets, and have a vast experience in tutoring for all major examination boards.