About Matthew Coleridge

Dorset-based composer Matthew Coleridge is an exciting new voice on the British choral music scene. His acclaimed Requiem - his first major composition - was hailed by Sir Neville Marriner as 'a valuable addition to the 21st century choral repertoire'. It was recorded in 2016 by RSVP Voices, and has been performed numerous times in the UK and Europe. His a cappella works have been recorded by professional ensembles, including The Queen's Six for BBC Music Magazine.

"My musical journey began when I joined my local church choir at the age of six. I was inspired by the new sound world into which I was immersed: Tallis and Gibbons, Sumsion and Stanford, Psalms and plainsong. I was soon encouraged to compose. My first offering (aged 8) was a fairly awful Christmas carol. I'd started two or three Magnificats by my early teens - though I'm yet to finish one. Composing always felt a natural and instinctive process; my grandfather and great-grandfather were both prolific amateur composers, so I guess it's in the blood, and I'm proud to continue the family name.

In my twenties, most of my creative output was well away from choral music. I wrote and recorded a lot of electronic and ambient music, penned a few songs, worked as a composers assistant, and exposed myself to as wide a spectrum of music as I possibly could. It wasn't until I reached my thirties that I started to regain an interest in choral composing. My first 'mature' composition was a setting of the Corpus Christi Carol, which was recorded beautifully by The Queen's Six for BBC Music Magazine's Christmas CD in 2015. Blending elements of Medieval music and plainsong with gentle, shimmering dissonances, it set the tone for much of my work to date.

My first large-scale composition, Requiem, grew out of fragments of music that I'd written over many years - ideas that I'd never found a chance to develop beyond a few bars. Following an acclaimed first performance in Dorset, I crowdfunded a recording with the wonderful RSVP Voices, cellist Guy Johnston and organist Stephen Farr."