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Colin Matthews

Composer

Matthews, like Britten, has the gift of creating crisply memorable material …

— Edward Greenfield, The Guardian

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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Around 25 musicians and composers line up to take a bow on stage at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Britten Pears Arts Composition and Performance 2026

16 September, 2026

Hans Werner Henze poses for a photo between Colin and Belinda Matthews. Another man (Olly Knussen) is just visible next to Colin.

Hans Werne Henze

1 July, 2026

CM, Michael Tilson Thomas & Joshua Robison posing outside next to a car door

Michael Tilson Thomas

24 April, 2026

Upcoming Performances

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

6 November, 2026 - Five Songs (Sibelius/Matthews)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen (Conductor), Johanna Rusanen (Soprano)
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

12 November, 2026 - Nicht zu Schnell (Mahler/Matthews)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno (Conductor)
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada

14 November, 2026 - Nicht zu Schnell (Mahler/Matthews(
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno (Conductor)
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada

14 November, 2026 - La cathédrale engloutie / Ondine / La fille aux cheveux de lin / La Puerta del Vino (Debussy/Matthews)
Fulham Symphony Orchestra, Marc Dooley (Conductor)
Smith Square Hall, London

22 November, 2026 - Estrangement
Emmanuel Choir
Emmanuel Church, Baltimore

View all performances

Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

© 2026 Colin Matthews · Website by Bookswarm

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