Keele, Staffordshire
Conductor Emeritus
Matthew Willis has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Sirius Chamber Orchestra
and Choir (1996-2001), the Ayton Castle Music Festival (1996-1998), the Keele Philharmonic
Orchestra and Choir (2000- ), the Corda Group (2003-2006) and the Keele Bach Choir (2002-2011 ).
He has held Guest Conductor and Assistant positions across Europe including an ongoing
partnership with Maestro Sebastian Weigle. He has worked with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra (Elgar Dream of Gerontius), the Orquestra Simfonica del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Britten
Death in Venice), the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (Stravinsky Petrushka), the City of London
Sinfonia (Rossini, Mozart, Brahms) the Northern Chamber Orchestra (Bach Mass in B minor) and
the Academia Orquestra de Gran Teatre del Liceu (Brahms Symphony No. 4). Matthew has worked
alongside artists such as James Gilchrist, Christopher Purves, Madeleine Easton, Denise Leigh,
James Rutherford, Grant Doyle, Helena Dix, Scott Hendricks, Ivan Balaguer-Zarzo, Katie van
Kooten and Kai Gleusteen.
Since graduating from the Royal College of Music, London, Matthew has conducted over 200
concerts and tours with ensembles across Europe in a wide repertoire including Vaughan-Williams A Sea Symphony, Humperdink Hänsel und Gretel, Gesualdo Sabbato Sancto, Peter Maxwell
Davies An Orkney wedding with sunrise and Berlioz's tour de force Grande messe des morts involving over 350 musicians.
Matthew has performed in many leading concert venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the
Barbican, St. John’s Smith Square and the Wigmore Hall, working with some of the world’s leading
musicians including Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He has gained
international recognition through participation in major conducting competitions including the
Donatella Flick International Conductors Competition (2008).
Acclaimed for his innovative programming and scholarly approach to Making music, recent reviews
have proclaimed “...something out of the ordinary,” “...simply a triumph on every level,” “the result
was as inspiring as it was exciting” and “the packed audience heard music drama at it’s best.”
Recent performances have included Mahler Symphony No. 4, Strauss Four Last Songs, the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Beethoven Overture to Leonore, the Mozart Requiem, Tallis Spem inalium, the Stravinsky Mass, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Romances Nos. 1 & 2.
Highlights of the 2009/10 season included Bizet Carmen for Opera Holland Park, a Gala Konzert
with the Hamburger Symphoniker and Joyce DiDonato, education projects with the City of London
Sinfonia, concerts with Keele Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, 6 Moteten by J.S. Bach with the
Keele Bach Choir and Hindemith Spielmusik with Dorking Chamber Orchestra.
In October 2010, Matthew will conduct the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in a gala concert also
featuring Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Diana Damrau and Matthew Polenzani amongst others.
Matthew Willis is represented by Intermusica.
August 2010
To contact Mr Wills please email batoninfo@gmail.com
