Matthew Coorey is an Australian conductor based in the United Kingdom. His career began in 2003 when he was appointed Assistant Conductor to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - this initial one-year contract with the RLPO then became a three-year commitment when he was appointed the orchestra’s first Conductor in Residence.
Soon after leaving the RLPO he appeared with the London Mozart Players and the Hallé Orchestra, both resulting in reinvitations. His U.S. debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Sarah Chang was described as “auspicious” and the playing “exulted.”
In recent seasons Matthew has made debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the National Orchestra of Ireland, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - all have offered reinvitations.
Other recent appearances include return engagements with the RLPO, BBC Concert Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra as well as debuts with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Initially self-taught as a conductor, Matthew auditioned for Seiji Ozawa and was invited to the Tanglewood Music Festival. At Tanglewood he also worked with Jorma Panula who then became his principal conducting teacher.
Matthew came to the United Kingdom to take up the position of Junior Fellow in Conducting (under Sir Mark Elder) at the Royal Northern College of Music. Soon after commencing this position he was also appointed Assistant Conductor to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Gerard Schwarz and Principal Conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
He was a prize-winner at the Georg Solti Conducting Competition in Frankfurt and a finalist in the Maaze-Vilar Conducting competition.
He has recorded for Classic FM and Naxos Records and has collaborated with artists such as Sarah Chang, Freddy Kempff, Steven Osborne and Yevgeny Sudbin.
Matthew started his musical career as a horn player and after studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music he played regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony.
