Matt Beckingham

Laar Music, Music Director

Matt Beckingham studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, and at Birmingham Conservatoire.  He has worked with organisations including Opera North, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra among others.

He was worked in a broad range of musical styles and genres, from preparing Quay Voices to perform Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius at the BBC Proms with Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle and the BBC Proms Youth Choir, to writing & conducting an interactive live orchestral underscore to the finals of a Netball match at the National Indoor Arena!

His conducting career began with an opera double bill, pairing the premiere of Graper’s Song of Songs with Blow’s Venus & Adonis.  Theatre work has run throughout Matt’s career, from in the early days being awarded Best Musical Direction from BMTG three years running (including for Bernstein’s West Side Story at Birmingham Hippodrome) through to most latterly conducting the Opera North Youth Chorus at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in a Weill double bill with Scottish Opera Connect.

Matt is passionate about new music, both as conductor and arranger/orchestrator.  His orchestrations have been performed by: London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Rundfunkchor, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra & Chorus of Opera North, Orchestra of the Swan with Sir Willard White, Royal Northern Sinfonia & Chorus, and BBC Philharmonic amongst others.