Matthew Brook is known for his honest and open portrayal of characters whether on the opera or concert stage. He leapt to fame with his 2007 Gramophone Award-winning recording of Handel’s Messiah with the Dunedin Consort, followed by equally critically acclaimed recordings of Acis and Galatea and St Matthew Passion. He has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe, Australia, North and South America and the Far East, and has worked with many of the world's leading conductors. He has developed a world-wide reputation for his interpretation of the music of J.S Bach and George Frederic Handel but his musical tastes stretch far beyond this, often performing new commissions.
Other concert repertoire he performs regularly include pieces such as Beethoven Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ, Brahms’ Requiem, Elgar Dream of Gerontius, Haydn Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten, Mendelssohn Elijah, Tippett A Child of Our Time and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.
Matthew has enjoyed long collaborations with conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Harry Bicket, Bernhard Labadie, Christophe Rousset, John Nelson, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, John Butt, Harry Christophers, Paul McCreesh and the late Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Roger Norrington and Richard Hickox. He has also collaborated with Richard Tognetti, Sir Mark Elder, Emmanuelle Haïm, Laurence Equilbey, Maxim Emelyanchev, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Christian Curnyn.
May 2026 News Update
I am looking ahead after a busy and intense Easter period of Matthew Passions. Highlights included performing with Antwerp Symphony and Laurence Cummings, Amsterdam Concertgebouworkest with Klaus Makela and a King’s College Cambridge BBC broadcast with Daniel Hyde. These concerts were followed by two Haydn Creations with Paul McCreesh in Bucharest.
Now, I look forward to performances of Handel’s Agrippina in June in Rouen, Normandy, with David Bates conducting in Robert Carsen’s fabulous production from Vienna. Later in June I sing the Dream of Gerontius in St Albans and in July, a lovely recital of Purcell and John Blow with Peter Seymour at the York Early Music Festival.
Later this season I will tackle new Handel repertoire to me. I have long wanted to perform Saul, and I will perform that with Paul McCreesh and his wonderful Gabrieli Roar team in Ely Cathedral. Other new Handel works include L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato in Warsaw with Nicholas McGegan and Belshazzar with the Dunedin Consort in Vienna and London.
I am thrilled to take another look at Schubert’s Winterreise with Anna Markland in December and there will be many more things in the Autumn that will keep me fully occupied.