A very warm welcome to my website. Below you will find my full third person biography for concert/media/promotion

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.


Professional Training

Matthew’s musical journey began aged thirteen (in 1989). Inspired after hearing a cassette of Ozzy Osbourne’s Randy Rhoads Tribute album, he bought a cheap nylon-strung guitar and began teaching himself rock guitar and piano. After a year of self-directed learning and jamming with friends, he began formal studies (in both classical guitar and piano), studying guitar with Adrian Harrison and piano with Maurice Clark and Gary Ryan.

By the winter of 1993, Matthew had achieved Grade 8 in both instruments and offered a place to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama the following year - a testament to his dedication and rapid progress.

However, he soon realised that the traditional environment didn’t fully align with his creative and cognitive sensibilities and during his second year Matthew dropped out, to continue training privately, with the aim of forging a more personal path.

With a growing focus on improvisation and composition he studied under composer/guitarist Martin Vishnick and Senior Professor of the guitar (The Royal College of Music), Carlos Bonell, earning Licentiates and a Fellowship from both the London College of Music and the Royal Schools of Music.

Matthew subsequently studied post graduate composition under Stephen Goss (The University of Surrey) and Dominic Murcott (Trinity Laban Conservatoire), earning a Master’s degree in music and an Artist Diploma in composition—the most advanced qualification offered a conservatoire.

In 2021, Matthew was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of his contributions to composition and performance. Today, Matthew encourages students to explore a variety of ways to achieve their goals, recognising there is not just one way.