Welcome to Matthew Brook’s website.

During these difficult times of Covid 19, I wanted to assure you, like many of my beloved colleagues in the arts, that I’m still working hard behind the scenes, despite not being allowed to perform on a wide scale at the moment.

I have used this time to rest and prepare for future projects, that may, or may not happen. As artists we have an inbuilt need to discover more each day. A sports athlete would continue to work out and train, and so do we. It keeps us sane, keeping to routines and being disciplined in keeping good vocal and mental health.

I am relishing the extra time on my hands to work on music familiar and unfamiliar, delving into careful language preparation, reading around the subject matter, memorising music, trying new and demanding repertoire. In many ways it feels like a luxury to have this time, and although financially we are having to find new ways of living while the wait for the arrival of a vaccine, we never lose hope that audiences will have a thirst to hear us tell our stories on stage again.

The new knowledge we have acquired in technology has been a challenge at times, but it is amazing how we have adapted and created online performances for many a good cause. It has helped to keep us focussed and moving forward in our world of discovery.

Concerts have come and gone over the months. All the largescale tours and festivals have suffered terribly, so we have adapted to smaller scale chamber concerts, often getting new arrangements of music to work with fewer players and in smaller venues. We have designed new programmes that can be safely performed for small audiences, and highlights have included Handel’s Acis and Galatea to an audience of 25, sung twice in a day, Bach cantatas, online St John Passions, many podcasts and mentoring schemes for young singers held online. The Bitesize Proms, devised by Jennifer Johnston provided an opportunity for me to sing with an old college friend, Malcolm Martineau. Check online for the lovely song we recorded, Schubert’s “An die Leier”.

I am preparing Schubert’s Winterreise with Anna Markland. We have worked together all our careers, and hope to get some opportunities to perform the cycle in the future. I am also working on a programme of Wagner with Iain Burnside, music from Die Walkure, Tristan und Isolde, and songs. “A View from the Villa” is a theatre piece with Sue Bickley and Victoria Newlyn, it is based around the Wesendonck songs. It has humour, and plenty of searing drama. One to look out for. I will also record Bach’s cantata number 82 Ich habe genug with my dear colleagues the Dunedin Consort in December. It is something I have longed to do for years, and with John Butt, Philip Hobbs and Linn records in support, it promises to be a highlight of my year. I also was able to record a Purcell disc with The King’s Consort, Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson and other fantastic singers. It was such a joy to gather and sing together after a famine of normal activity.

My diary for the rest of the season is brimming with lots of delights. There is a strong possibility some of it will not happen, but you can rest assured, I am not sitting idle, I write this with hope that things will return to normal as some point. Please keep supporting the arts. We will return with such vigour, you’ll want to witness it!

Best wishes
Matthew Brook

October 2020