Orchestral appearances have included all the BBC orchestras as well as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Norrkoping Symfoniorkester, the Ulster Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. In recent years Denmark in particular has been prominent with regular visits to the Danish National Radio Concert Orchestra, the Aarhus, Aalborg, Tivoli, Sjaelland, Soenderjylland and Odense Symphony Orchestras for concerts, recordings and touring projects. He has also worked with the Storstroems Chamber Ensemble.

Matthew Rowe has demonstrated an exceptional ability to handle the demanding requirements of performances of classic movies with live music. These have included Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin as well as the epic The Birth of a Nation.

Matthew Rowe returned to the Dutch National Ballet for 2 periods in 2008, conducting a triple bill and Don Giovanni. He has built a close relationship with this company and its orchestra, the Holland Symfonia, since a very successful tour of Ashton’s Cinderella in 2004. He has recently made his debut with Birmingham Royal Ballet conducting Swan Lake, on which he has also worked for the famed Adventures in Motion Pictures in its all-male production and for English National Ballet.Last autumn he made his debut with Royal Danish Ballet in performances of Onegin. Other ballet productions include Giselle for the Royal Swedish Ballet and the premiere of a new ballet for Irek Mukhamedov and the ARC Dance Company. He has worked on several productions with the Skanes Dansteater in Malmo, including Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Le Sacre du Printemps (Angelin Preljocaj’s choreography) as well as a new ballet choreographed by Rui Horta to John Adams’ Shaker Loops.. Opera performances include Bizet’s Carmen, Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins and Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman with the Danish National Opera.

Born in London, Matthew Rowe studied conducting with Colin Metters, George Hurst and John Carewe. In 1990 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore to study under Frederik Prausnitz. He has also participated in conducting masterclasses with Peter Eötvös, Ton Koopman, Eri Klas, Leon Fleischer and Michael Brewer. He won prizes at a number of international conducting competitions including the 1995 Nicolai Malko Conducting Competition in Denmark, the Lovro Matacic Conducting Competition in Zagreb and the 1999 Leeds Conductors Competition.

Matthew Rowe’s first music directorship was for the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Under his leadership they built up a reputation for tackling demanding repertoire to a very high standard. Highlights included the Delius Mass of Life , Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and the first UK performance of the complete Mahler Das Klagende Lied. He is Associate Chorus Director of the London Philharmonic Choir, their recent work having included the Brahms Requiem (Kurt Masur), Mozart Requiem (Vladimir Jurowski) and Mahler 8 (Daniele Gatti).

Matthew Rowe remains deeply committed to education and outreach work. He enjoys coaxing the very best from all ages and abilities and his adaptability and enthusiasm are much in demand. Projects have included live web-concerts with the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and English National Opera ranging from family concerts to specially commissioned works and pieces for bicycles, kazoos and balloons performed on the beach at the Aldeburgh Fringe! Similarly he has conducted the Leeds Youth Orchestra, the Aarhus Conservatoire Orchestra and the Danish Youth Orchestra.

Autumn 2009