Matthew Wadsworth, Lutenist
“Matthew Wadsworth studied lute at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Nigel North, after which he spent a year at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague.
Working in the UK, Europe and North America as a soloist and chamber musician, Wadsworth has appeared at most major concert halls and festivals, and can often be heard on radio, both in live performance and recordings.
His many CD recordings for Channel Classics, Linn Records, Deux-Elles and Wigmore Live have all received international critical acclaim, and have been featured as Gramophone Editors Choice on 3 occasions.
Matthew’s Colaborations with singers include Sopranos Carolyn Sampson, Julia Doyle and Emma Kirkby, counter-tenor Christopher Ainslie, tenor James Gilchrist and baritone Peter Harvey.
In July 2018, Matthew gave the first performances of a new concerto for theorbo, written for him by composer Stephen Goss. This included the premier in Hong Kong, and then performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Northern Chamber Orchestra.
His recording of the concerto with the SCO is now out on the Deux-Elles label.
Wadsworth is looking forward to collaborating with Dame Evelyn Glennie on a new piece for theorbo and marimba, being written for them by Stephen Goss.
His latest CD release features songs by Henry Purcell with soprano Julia Doyle and Ensemble Unmeasured.
Matthew has given concerts at the Bruges festival, the Klara festival, the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, The Sam Wanamaker Theatre at Shakespeares Globe, the Georgian Concert Society (Edinburgh), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Lufthansa, York, Bath, Swaledale, Beverley, Warwick, Spitalfields, Holt, North York Moores, Budapest, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal Baroque, Mitte-Europa and Innsbruck festivals.
He has also worked as a soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Northern Chamber Orchestra, and as a continuo player with The Academy of Ancient Music, English Touring Opera, Birmingham Opera Company, Independent Opera, The Netherlands Bach Society, I Fagiolini, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, The Musicians of the Globe, Arion, Constantinople, The Theatre of Early Music and Les Violons du Roy.