Performances on 16, 19 and 20 April.

An English Coronation Concert.

24 August 2018, 2pm (event 5)
Variations for Piano -- Joseph Tong
St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, LD8 2AF

24 August 2018, 7.45pm (event 7)
Three Housman Songs -- Ruby Hughes, soprano, Presteigne Festival Orchestra
St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, LD8 2AF

26 August 2018, 12.30pm (event 14)
David Matthews at 75, a celebration and film with David and Barrie Gavin
Assembly Rooms, Presteigne, LD8 2AD

26 August 2018, 5.15pm (event 16)
Four Australian Birds -- Kristine Balanas, violin
St Michael’s Church, Discoed, LD8 2NW

27 August 2018, 11.30am (event 20)
Ein Celloleben -- Joanna Gutowska, cello
St Mary’s Church, Kinnerton, LD8 2PF

28 August 2018, 7.45pm (event 27)
Symphony No.4 -- Presteigne Festival Orchestra conducted by George Vass
St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne LD8 2AF

See the festival website for more details and booking.

The following performances will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Church Lane, Blythburgh, Halesworth, IP19 9LP.

04 October 2018, 10.30am
Lullaby (world premiere) -- Lesley-Jane Rogers, soprano / John Turner, recorder / Richard Simpson, oboe / mixed chamber ensemble

05 October 2018, 11.00am
Darkness Draws In -- Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola

05 October 2018, 7.30pm
Sonatina for Viola and Piano (world Premiere) -- Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola / Nathan Williamson, piano

See the festival website for more details and booking (should be updated soon).

Part of the Little Missenden Festival.

Performed by Joanna Gutowska on cello as part of the Presteigne Festival Autumn Tour.

26 October, 1.10pm -- Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TS

3 November, 7.30pm -- Holywell Music Room, Holywell Street, Oxford, OX1 3SD

David was involved in three events at the recent Elgar Festival in Worcester, which saw the performance of two arrangements - String Quartet in E Minor (Elgar arr. Matthews) and Sospiri (Elgar arr. Matthews) - as well as David’s String Quartet No.6.

See the photograph in the gallery of David alongside Elgar’s bust and Kenneth Woods, the artistic director of the festival.

The premiere of David's Ninth Symphony took place in Bristol during early May. As Richard Bratby of The Spectator describes, 'The audience at St George's Bristol - where Kenneth Woods conducted the world premiere with the English Symphony Orchestra - actually cheered, and Matthews's habit of writing recognisable melodies might have helped there. One tune (and that really is the word) in the fourth movement was so unabashedly cheerful that I found myself thinking: he'll never get away with this.'

Features David's work A Love Song.

David's Symphony No.9 was recorded for a Nimbus CD, which will include two pieces for strings to be recorded in the autumn, extending David’s association with the English Symphony Orchestra as their John McCabe Fellow.

On 24 July 2018 the Ukrainian Festival Orchestra under Paul Mann will record David's A June Song.

The following recordings took place in the second half of 2017:

Norfolk March was recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow on 17 August.

The Kreutzer Quartet recorded David's 14th Quartet at St Michael’s Highgate on 24 October.

The BBC Philharmonic's recording of A Vision of the Sea, Symphony No.8 and Toward Sunrise took place in November, all three works conducted by Jac van Steen.

David's Symphony No.9 was recently recorded for a Nimbus CD. Due to appear on the same disk are two pieces for strings,Double Concerto and Variations for Strings, set for recording on 16 October 2018 (prior to a concert performance of the same works). This extends David’s association with the English Symphony Orchestra as their John McCabe Fellow.

On 24 July the Ukrainian Festival Orchestra under Paul Mann recorded David's A June Song.

Recessional and David's new arrangement of the National Anthem were recorded for CD in July at Ely Cathedral. The National Anthem was recorded live at the concert, 'An English Coronation' on 23 July, by 70 players from the Gabrieli Players, 14 extra brass players from Chetham's School, over 50 singers from the Festival Consort and 250 young singers from the choral training programme Gabrieli Roar. The audience joined in the second verse of the Anthem so at that point there were over 1,000 performers.

The CD set, which will include all the music from the last four coronations, is due to be released early next year.

David’s Thirteenth Quartet was recently recorded for release on CD in the New Year. In addition to the customary four string players, the work features four singers and was written in memory of a close friend, Peter Sculthorpe. Musical Opinion (Oct-Dec 2018) described its performance in July by the Kreuzer Quartet, alongside singers Rebecca Lea, Jess Dandy, Will Dawes and James Robinson, as 'A moving tribute to a fellow composer and a searching addition to a genre which David Matthews has made his own.' Paul Conway goes on to call the Thirteenth Quartet a 'tightly written piece that covered a vast spectrum of emotion in a short space of time. There was quirkiness and wit as well as noble tranquillity in a persuasive premiere performance of great warmth and humanity.' Hear the Thirteenth Quartet together with David’s Eighth and Fourteenth Quartets on the Kreuzer’s upcoming 2019 disk with Toccata Classics.

David's Symphony No.9 was recorded for release on CD in early 2019. Due to appear on the same Nimbus disk are two pieces for strings, Double Concerto and Variations for Strings. This extends David’s association with the English Symphony Orchestra both through their 'Matthews in the Heart of England' concert series, and as their John McCabe Fellow.