Matthew Barley
“… his virtuoso control at all dynamic levels just has to be heard to be believed…”
International Record Review
“I wish more people would think about music the way Matthew Barley does”
The Times (London)
“Stunning cello – words cannot do justice to the strength and effect of his playing”
Capital Times (New Zealand)
Cello playing is at the centre of Matthew Barley’s career, while his musical world has virtually no geographical, social or stylistic boundaries. After training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Moscow Conservatoire, Matthew’s activities in performance, improvisation, cross-disciplinary projects, composition, and pioneering community programmes soon developed to form a uniquely eclectic international career. The best representation of this career so far was Matthew’s marathon UK tour, On The Road, in 2006 playing 20 recitals and giving 17 workshops in 30 days. The venues ranged from prestigious concert halls, to a prison, a school for terminally ill children, and a vegetarian cafe. The programme included improvisation, core classical music, contemporary music with electronics, and a new piece by DJ Bee and Barley for cello with computer and midi-pedal board! The tour was a huge critical and audience success with many sold-out houses.
Matthew made an early London concerto debut playing the Shostakovich Cello Concerto in the Barbican Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra, as finalist of the LSO-Shell Competition. Since then his solo and chamber music engagements have taken him to nearly 50 countries, performing repertoire ranging from Bach to his own compositions, music written for him and improvisation. Matthew’s concerto engagements have included the Royal Scottish National (Marin Alsop), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Chamber Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony (Tortelier), New Zealand Symphony (Tan Dun), BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony (Hazlewood), BBC Concert, Gürzenich (Markus Stenz), London Sinfonietta, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Brno Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, and Athens Kamerata. Recent recital appearances include the Wigmore Hall, St George’s Bristol, Seoul’s Kumho Hall, as well as the Lanaudiere, Lucerne, New Zealand, Istanbul, Krakow, Abu Dhabi, Prague Autumn, Hong Kong, City of London, Spitalfields, St Magnus in Orkney, Harrogate, Cheltenham, WOMAD and London Jazz festivals.
