Halls Matthew

Matthew Halls has established himself as one of today's leading young conductors. A former Artistic Director of The King's Consort, he has conducted in prominent venues including the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; the Cité de la Musique, Paris; and the Palais des Beaux Arts,Brussels. Beyond the early repertoire in which he has initially established his reputation, Halls is known for his passion for the Germanic repertoire, particularly Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Schubert. As a conductor of choral music he has conducted an eclectic cross section of the repertoire, juxtaposing composers as diverse as Byrd and Britten, Gesualdo and Schoenberg.

Now firmly established as a conductor of international repute, Halls' guest conducting includes significant debuts with orchestras such as Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, HessischerRundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Het Residentie Orkest, Houston Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra, Washington DC.

Having initially established his reputation as a keyboard player, Halls has worked extensively with many of Europe's foremost early music groups and in opera houses including The Netherlands Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper and Komische Oper Berlin. Building on this long established pedigree, Halls has made recent debuts with opera companies such as Handelfestspiele Halle, Salzburg Landestheater, Central City Opera Colorado and Korean National Opera.

An Oxford graduate, Halls subsequently taught at the University for five years. Passionately committed to education and working with young musicians, the development of Retrospect Ensemble's Young Artist Programme has been a priority for him. He is also a tutor for theEuropean Union Baroque Orchestra and regularly teaches on summer schools and courses such as the Jerusalem Early Music Workshop and the Dartington International Summer School.