Matthew Sear is an award-winning, London-born composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his evocative works for solo instruments and small ensembles.
He has been featured in leading publications such as Classical Guitar, Fanfare Magazine, The Jewish Chronicle, and Gibson Lifestyle, and his music has been premiered at major venues including the Royal Academy of Music, 1901 Arts Club, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and at international festivals including Edinburgh, Toronto, and the Adelaide Fringe.
Matthew made his London guitar debut in 2006 at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden. Since then, he has performed extensively throughout the UK and internationally, with recitals across Europe and North America. UK highlights include St John’s Smith Square, Canterbury Cathedral, and Hertford College, University of Oxford.
A passionate improviser, Matthew founded The London Contemporary Guitar Series (2012–2020), an initiative that showcased classical, jazz, and fusion music in an intimate setting. Through this platform, he collaborated with renowned artists including Howard Alden, John Etheridge, Tim Robinson, and Martin Vishnick—collaborations that deeply influenced his compositional voice.
Following the loss of his mother in 2014, Matthew stepped away from public performance but continued composing and teaching. In 2015, he joined the charity Music in Hospitals, performing over 100 concerts in ICUs, oncology wards, and children’s hospices—a powerful chapter in his career that reaffirmed music’s healing potential.
The 2020–2021 lockdowns marked a prolific period of creativity. He launched Seven Days, a large-scale music and visual art project with artist Mina Kupfermann, and released the album Creations in Lockdown, which led to a BBC radio feature and critical praise for its emotional depth and imagination. In recognition of his work, Matthew was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.
In 2022, he released The Tree of Life, an album influenced by Kabbalistic themes and featuring diverse instrumentation including pipe organ, oud, didgeridoo, strings, and electric guitar. The work was celebrated for its melodic strength and spiritual resonance.
Recent projects (2023–2024) include The Nova Suite for cello duet, Amigos for a massed choir of over 200 voices (commissioned by Bexley Music), and the original soundtrack for Darcy Weir’s UFO documentary Transmedium. His solo guitar piece For My Mother, a poignant tribute to his late mother, was awarded third prize in the 2025 Fidelio International Composition Competition.
His composition Homage to Beethoven was premiered on BBC Radio 3’s Seven Notes in Seven Days, further affirming his place as one of the UK’s most distinctive compositional voices.
Currently, Matthew is developing several new works, including Pieces for Pets for pianist Lydia Melleck, a setting of the Psalms in collaboration with singer Daisy Jones, and promoting his latest album Doorways, featuring compositions for string orchestra, brass quartet, piano, and classical guitar.
As a proud independent artist, his music has garnered over half a million streams and has been heard in more than 110 countries.
