Matthew Sharp | Pete M Wyer | Fiona O'Mahony

Matthew Sharp

“Extraordinary cellist, virile bass-baritone, compelling actor – Matthew Sharp’s astonishingly comprehensive versatility.” (The Daily Telegraph)

Following studies at the Köln Musikhochschule (cello – Boris Pergamenschilow), Trinity College, Cambridge and in Stockholm (voice - Ulla Blom), Matthew has performed with the RPO, LPO, Ural Philharmonic, Opera North (Papageno) and Almeida Opera (The Silent Twins), at major venues and festivals in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, the Gulf, India, North America and Russia, recorded for Sony, Naxos and Avie, appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall, the South Bank, Salle Gaveau and Stockholm's Musikmuseet and broadcast widely on TV and Radio.

Matthew combines these core, ‘classical’ activities with a uniquely pioneering outlook both within music and across disciplines. Amongst world premieres by major composers, projects with musicians at the forefront of jazz, rock, electronic and world music, and cross-disciplinary collaborations with leading artists, he has created the title roles in Sir John Tavener's Petra and The Fool, and Opera North's The Pied Piper (Pearson/Buckler), improvised and recorded with Iain Ballamy, Tarun Bhattacharya, Crispian Mills, Mike Westbrook, Gruff Rhys and Sabreen, appeared in and written music for film, dance and theatre, collaborated on international projects with Annabel Arden, Jos Houben and Tim Supple, and is perhaps the only musician to have performed at the major London venues as both solo cellist and solo vocalist. His talents as an actor and communicator have been recognized by invitations from The Globe, Bristol Old Vic, Young Vic and National Theatre Studio.

Recent highlights include the world premieres of Errollyn Wallen's cello concerto and Jason Yarde's Soliloquies of Solace, new commissions at ROH2 and Opera North and appearances at the Bath, Brighton and Lichfield festivals.

Matthew balances provenance (pupil of, amongst others, Jacqueline du Pré and the Amadeus Quartet) and vision (artistic director SharpWire, dedicatee of numerous new works) and generates new and nurtures existing audiences, across genres, generations and disciplines.

Matthew has been a visiting lecturer at London’s Trinity College of Music and Central School of Speech and Drama and has led workshops and masterclasses across the UK, Scandinavia and at New York’s Juilliard. He has also devised and delivered pioneering community and education projects across the UK and in India and Russia.

www.matthewsharp.net