Matthew Robinson

Key details:

Department:
Guildhall Young Artists | Junior Guildhall
Role:
Guitar
Portrait of Matthew Robinson

Matthew is a founder of the Mela guitar quartet, winners of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Ensemble Competition 2023. Hailed for their “collective technical brilliance and preternatural ensemble making” (Gramophone) the quartet have released three albums, the complete guitar quartets of Anthony Burgess and Stephen Dodgson with Naxos, and the self-released album Pluck, Strum, and Hammer!

Notable performances have included the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, Kings Place Hall One, St. James’ Church Piccadilly, Barbican Centre’s Milton Court, St. George’s Bristol, Westminster Abbey, Soest Germany, and Jimi Hendrix’s bedroom. In 2019 the quartet embarked on an 8 concert tour of China, including Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Changsha concert hall and Tianjin Grand Theatre. The quartet will tour America as part of their GFA winners tour in 2025.

Matthew was International Guitar Festival Young Artist 2015/16, then Park Lane Group young artist 2018/19 and Royal Over-Seas League chamber music finalist 2019.

Matthew graduated with first-class honours in 2008 from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and studied for his Masters in performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating with distinction in 2011.

Matthew played for just over a decade with virtuoso Flamenco-Jazz guitarist Eduardo Niebla, touring the U.K. and Europe with over 50 concerts a year. They made several radio and TV appearances including BBC Radio 3 InTune, Radio 6 Cerys Matthews show and BBC Radio 4 Loose Ends with Clive Anderson.

As a soloist, Matthew has performed the Richard Rodney-Bennett guitar concerto at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room conducted by Ben Gernon and was musician in residence at the Courtauld Gallery, London.

Matthew has taught at the junior department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 2008 and is a musical director of the National Youth Guitar Ensembles (NYGE).

“An exalted level of perfection” - Naxos.com
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"A Stunning Display of Virtuosity", "Wizardy", "Revelatory music making" - Soundboard 2023