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Colin Matthews

Composer

It is fascinating how Matthews can use, almost entirely, dark and subtly shifting colours …

— David Denton, Tempo

Travelling Préludes

19 March, 2018

Black and white image of Debussy holding a parasol on a beach

March 25th is the 100th anniversary of Debussy’s death, and my orchestrations of the Préludes seem to be doing quite a lot of travelling. Recent performances have been by the Sioux City Symphony in Iowa, the Tiroler Symphonieorchester in Innsbruck with Jac van Steen, and the BBC Philharmonic. Coming up are performances at the Royal Northern College (21 March), and in Birmingham for the Debussy Festival with the CBSO and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (24 March and 25 March), who will also be doing a selection in Rome in May. Having pledged that I would do no more Debussy orchestrations my resolve was pleasantly undermined last year by a request from the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg to do Book I of the Images, which they are recording in July. Ravel also gets a look in, in April, with Oiseaux tristes, also by the CBSO and this time with Nicholas Collon, who commissioned it for the Proms in 2015 (I am also writing a few notes of my own in my spare time).

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Musical score of Continuum - first page

Continuum 2006

20 January, 2026

5 opera singers on stage - the set is an opera rehearsal room

A Visit to Friends – first performance!

30 June, 2025

Two men pose for a photo together in an empty concert hall

Red Note Festival in Illinois

3 April, 2025

Upcoming Performances

Click on the date and title of the performance to view venue and booking details in a new window.

11 March, 2026 - Postludes / Little Continuum
New England Conservatory New Music Ensemble, Stefan Asbury (Conductor)
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, USA

14 May, 2026 - Berceuse and Sarabande
Folkestone New Music
The Green Room at the Grand, Folkestone

26 July, 2026 - Fantazia 13
The Happenstancers
Carlton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, Ottawa, Ottawa Chamberfest

7 March, 2027 - Paraphrases
Leila Josefowicz (violin), John Novacek (piano)
Wigmore Hall, London

View all performances

Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

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