In recent years, Matthew Wood has emerged as a musician of versatile talents. He is regularly employed as a conductor of orchestral, choral, operativ and new music repertoire.

As a finalist in Symphony Australia’s 2002 Young Conductor of the Year Award, Matthew conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Gershwin’s An American in Paris. This successful performance led to an invitation to conduct The Australian Pro Arte Orchestra in concerts throughout 2003 and 2004. As a finalist in 2001, Matthew conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Stravinsky and Sibelius, subsequently being awarded a financial scholarship from The Orchestral Association Network.

On the invitation of internationally recognised conductor pedagogue Maestro Jorna Panula, as one of only 15 conductors chosen worldwide, Matthew recently travelled to Brasov, Romania to attend and conduct at the World Symposium on the Orchestral Music of Jean sibelius. After a successful performance of Sibelius’ 1st Symphony, Matthew was invited by the Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra to return in 2004 and 2005 as guest conductor as part of their concert season.

Matthew was recently selected as 1 of 14 conductors to audition for the junior fellowship in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. After this successful audition, Matthew will return to Manchester to take up a position in the college from September 2004.

Matthew is also committed to the performance and recognition of new music and Australian compositions. He regularly commissions and performs such works with his ensembles. He is also frequently engaged by new music ensembles, most notably Australia’s “premiere new music ensemble” Halcyon.

In 2003, Matthew also worked as chorus master with vocal group Cantillation, in conjunction with both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Contemporary Music Festival working alongside renowned contemporary music conductor Reinbert van Leeuyw, and the concert ‘Mozart: Requiem for our Time’ with Norwegian conductor Rolf Gupta.

In 2002, Matthew conducted the Tasmanian, Adelaide, Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestra along with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 2003, Matthew returned to the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as part of Symphony Australia’s Conductor programme.

Matthew has worked as an assistant conductor for many of Sydney’s leading ensembles such as the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Ku-ring-gai Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra Association and the Sydney Chamber Choir. He is currently the Conductor and Artistic Director of Bel a Cappella, Conductor and Artistic Director of the Waverley/Randwick Philharmonic Orchestra, guest conductor of the North Sydney Symphony and is lecturer of orchestral conducting for the Wesley Institute of Music.

 

Concert:

2004

• Season 2 Poster & Program (17.6Mb)