Matthew Coorey
Conductor
At a glance
Matthew Coorey
Conductor
Biography —
Matthew Coorey began his conducting career in 2003 when he was appointed Assistant Conductor to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This initial one-year contract then became a three-year commitment when he was appointed the RLPO’s first Conductor in Residence. Debuts soon followed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony, the Philharmonia, the Hallé, Ensemble 10:10 and the London Mozart Players – all of whom offered further invitations.
Matthew has also appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Ireland and at the BBC Proms. Recent highlights include debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Orchestra, the Slovenian Radio Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia, an appearance at the London Festival of Contemporary Music and returnengagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, the Presidential Orchestra of Ankara, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Laban orchestra, Ensemble 10:10, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a tour of the far east with the Palestine National Orchestra.
Matthew has a great interest in all forms of music and art forms and has collaborated with Rosas Dance Company and Ictus Ensemble, innovative rock bands These New Puritans and Efterklang and has worked with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Matthew has a strong commitment to working with younger musicians and regularly conducts and teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has also worked with the orchestras of the Royal College of Music London, the Felix Mendelssohn Hochschule Leipzig, the Trinity-Laban Orchestra London, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, the Australian National Academy of Music and the Australian Youth Orchestra.
Initially self-taught as a conductor, Matthew auditioned for Seiji Ozawa and was invited to the Tanglewood Music Festival where he worked with Jorma Panula who became his principal conducting teacher. The following year he attended the Aspen Music Festival where studied with David Zinman. For two years, Matthew was Junior Fellow in Conducting – under Sir Mark Elder – at the Royal Northern College of Music. He was a finalist in the Maazel-Vilar Conducting Competition, a fellow of the Allianz International Conductors’ Academy and a prize-winner at the Georg Solti Conducting Competition.
He has collaborated with artists such as Sarah Chang, Freddy Kempf, Steven Osborne, Yevgeny Sudbin, the Jussen Brothers, Roderick Williams, Emma Matthews, Elena Tokar and Pieter Wispelwey and has recorded for Classic FM and for Naxos Records.
Recent and upcoming highlights of the 2024/2025 season include engagements with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the Antalya Symphony Orchestra and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Turkey.
News —

Matthew Coorey hosts podcast ‘SYO Tempo’
Matthew speaks to guests including Ray Chen and Brett Dean Read more
Photos —







Reviews —
“Matthew Coorey was in charge on the night I attended and under his brisk direction the performance fizzed with energy…”
OPERA NOW
“Coorey’s direction was first rate, the gently overlapping melodies balanced and drawn with translucent finesse into a single, seamless arc of dreamy romance and operatic tension ... This was a superlative performance.”
THE AUSTRALIAN
“At the podium was Matthew Coorey… this was his U.S. debut and an auspicious one it was… The Seattle Symphony played in an exulted manner.”
SEATTLE TIMES
“Barely half-an-hour of music, but it was flung out with such intensity it seemed more nourishing than many concerts four times the length.”
THE TELEGRAPH
“Hugely exhilarating ... Coorey has the capacity to fine-tune an orchestra and get it to play with both weight and precision ... superb”
CLASSICALSOURCE.COM
Selected Discography —
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Contact —
Name
- Costa Peristianis