Matthew has always been keen to promote primary and secondary music making, using his skills and contacts to create interesting opportunities for schools and local communities to showcase their talents wherever and whenever possible.
Matthew studied Community Music with Bruce Cole at the University of York and gained experience in festival management working as an Assistant at the 2007 Bradford Mela. He also worked as a freelance Tutor of Composition at a number of local sixth-form colleges in North Yorkshire, advising GCSE and A-Level candidates on composition portfolio presentation.
In 2008, Matthew set up a primary school music initiative called PYMF (Primary Youth Music Festival) with assistance from Lewisham College and a host of staff based at Ashmead Primary School. The singing project brought together around 100 primary school pupils from all over South East London and they performed Jonah Man Jazz to a delighted audience of family and friends. The children were joined by Balham Gospel Choir (who had recently performed on the BBC) which really added to their experience of singing alongside music professionals.
More recently, Matthew has been working as a Choral Animateur for the Rochester Cathedral Chorister Outreach Project, funded by the 2008 Sing-Up Initiative. He has since been appointed as a freelance Animateur from September 2009 working in collaboration with the cathedral outreach project and the Medway Music Service co-ordinator Derek Blease to provide a 30 week series of workshops with various concerts scheduled for next year.
Matthew is currently preparing for outreach concerts at Rochester Cathedral in March and July 2010 and putting together plans for further youth outreach work in the South East schools and community projects. Most recently, Matthew has been employed by Raised Voices, a political community choir based in King's Cross (London), to run a male voice workshop and six week project assisting the tenor and bass voice sections in developing their repertoire knowledge and vocal technique.