A very warm welcome to my website. Below you will find my full third person biography for concert/media/promotion
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Matthew Sear (b. 1975)
Matthew Sear is an award-winning London-born composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his evocative works for solo instruments and small ensembles.
His compositions have been featured in leading publications such as Classical Guitar, Fanfare Magazine, The Jewish Chronicle, and Gibson Lifestyle, and have 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 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 in Spain, Sweden, France, and North America. His UK appearances include St John Smith’s Square, Canterbury Cathedral, and Hertford College at the 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 series, he collaborated with a wide range of 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 took time 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 capacity.
The 2020–2021 lockdowns marked a prolific period of creativity. During this time, he launched Seven Days, a large-scale music and visual art project with artist Mina Kupfermann. He also released the album Creations in Lockdown, which led to a feature interview on BBC radio and earned praise from critics 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 such as 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.
In 2025, he received third prize in the prestigious Fidelio International Composition Competition for his solo guitar piece For My Mother, a poignant tribute to his late mother.
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 current 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.
Matthew lives in London with his wife Suzanne, a musician and autism specialist, and their two King Charles Spaniels. Beyond music, his interests include football, film, psychology, mysticism, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
Work in education
Alongside his work in performance and composition, Matthew is equally passionate about education.
Being not from musical parents himself, he is particularly interested in connecting with pupils who have found their own way into music and teaches guitar (classical and electric), piano and composition privately and in schools in and around London.
Matthew lives with his wife Suzanne, (a musician in her own right and specialist in Autism) and their beloved King Charles Spaniels; Ellie and Elian, in London, England.
Interests outside of music include; football, tv/film, psychology, mysticism and the search for extra terrestrial intelligence.——————————————————————————————————————————————
Professional training
Inspired to take up the guitar in his teens after hearing the album ‘The Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads Tribute’, Matthew began teaching himself electric guitar improvisation and composition, whilst studying classical guitar under Adrian Harrison, and piano under Maurice Clark and Gary Ryan.
He continued his studies of the guitar and piano as an undergraduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and privately, under the tutelage of guitarists Martin Vishnick and Carlos Bonell, gaining Licentiates and a Fellowship from The Royal Schools and The London College of Music.
Matthew studied post graduate composition under Stephen Goss at the University of Surrey, privately under Dominic Murcott, and under Gwyn Prichard, Laura Jurd and Deidre Gribbin, at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, culminating in a Masters degree in music, and an Artist diploma in composition. In 2021 he was awarded a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts, in recognition of his contribution to the world of composition and performance.
