A very short biography
© Matt Geer
© Matt Geer
Matt Geer (b. 1996) is a doctoral philosopher, composer and organist. His research interests lie in the philosophy of art aesthetics and experimental music composition. He studied classical music composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BMus Hons) and is currently researching for a PhD in experimental music composition and its philosophical implications at Queen's University Belfast. He has performed at most major UK Cathedrals and champions organ music of young up-and-coming composers as an organist. Outside music, he is interested in a broader study of philosophy and is an Anglican Tertiary in the Third Order of the Society of St Francis.
A longer first-person biography
© Matt Geer
© Matt Geer
I am currently studying a PhD in philosophy and music composition (supr. Dr. Simon Mawhinney, Belfast); my research title is "Counting over time: Approaching the enumeration of maximal combinatorial systems through the phenomenology of temporal consciousness." The research explores the temporal implications that system music presents for the listener, in relation to my own work and in the wider context of experimental and minimalist music.
Previously, I studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a scholarship under Laurence Crane (previously Dr James Weeks). I was composer in association with the City Chamber Choir and have had my music performed and workshopped by the likes of the BBC singers, EXAUDI, Line Upon Line, Lakeside Brass, musicians from the LPO, the clarinettist Heather Roche and the contemporary pianist Satoko Inoue. I studied organ through the Royal College of Organists at the University of Sussex under James Lloyd Thomas and under Simon Williams at St George's, Hanover Square. I am currently composer-in-residence with the London Baroque Orchestra and the South-East Symphony Orchestra.
As an organist and conductor, I've played and conducted at Cathedrals such as Westminster (Cathedral and Abbey), Southwark, St Pauls, Canterbury, Peterborough, Liverpool, St Albans, Rochester, Guildford, Winchester, Salisbury, Belfast, Oxford, Hereford and abroad in Paris and Belgium. In 2017, I founded the Guildhall Schola Cantorum, who regularly sing Evensong in Cathedrals when the Cathedral choirs are away. I am a Fellow of the Society of Crematorium Organists (FSCO) and a member of the Royal College of Organists. From 2015-2021, I held the position of director of music at St Agnes Church, Kennington Park.
I was recently fortunate enough to be chosen for BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Voices, searching for new presenters and speech contributors for broadcast, and currently volunteer on local radio in London. I also managed and hosted the Kennington Park Recital Series, based at St Agnes Church, Kennington. In early 2021, I was asked to give a prestigious TED talk on schizophrenia and music.
My past projects include writing an opera (funded through the Barbican and the coLABorate scheme), a monodrama on psychotic depression, an opera on suicide and a large orchestral work. As well as music, I spend time cycling, visiting Churches and learning French. I live in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland and am currently in formation of becoming professed as a tertiary in the Third Order of the Society of St Francis.
My knowledge and love of music was facilitated through my first and only teacher growing up, Ann Hohenkerk (ALCM), who I studied church music, electronic keyboard and theory with in Fairlight, East Sussex.
Previously, I studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a scholarship under Laurence Crane (previously Dr James Weeks). I was composer in association with the City Chamber Choir and have had my music performed and workshopped by the likes of the BBC singers, EXAUDI, Line Upon Line, Lakeside Brass, musicians from the LPO, the clarinettist Heather Roche and the contemporary pianist Satoko Inoue. I studied organ through the Royal College of Organists at the University of Sussex under James Lloyd Thomas and under Simon Williams at St George's, Hanover Square. I am currently composer-in-residence with the London Baroque Orchestra and the South-East Symphony Orchestra.
As an organist and conductor, I've played and conducted at Cathedrals such as Westminster (Cathedral and Abbey), Southwark, St Pauls, Canterbury, Peterborough, Liverpool, St Albans, Rochester, Guildford, Winchester, Salisbury, Belfast, Oxford, Hereford and abroad in Paris and Belgium. In 2017, I founded the Guildhall Schola Cantorum, who regularly sing Evensong in Cathedrals when the Cathedral choirs are away. I am a Fellow of the Society of Crematorium Organists (FSCO) and a member of the Royal College of Organists. From 2015-2021, I held the position of director of music at St Agnes Church, Kennington Park.
I was recently fortunate enough to be chosen for BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Voices, searching for new presenters and speech contributors for broadcast, and currently volunteer on local radio in London. I also managed and hosted the Kennington Park Recital Series, based at St Agnes Church, Kennington. In early 2021, I was asked to give a prestigious TED talk on schizophrenia and music.
My past projects include writing an opera (funded through the Barbican and the coLABorate scheme), a monodrama on psychotic depression, an opera on suicide and a large orchestral work. As well as music, I spend time cycling, visiting Churches and learning French. I live in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland and am currently in formation of becoming professed as a tertiary in the Third Order of the Society of St Francis.
My knowledge and love of music was facilitated through my first and only teacher growing up, Ann Hohenkerk (ALCM), who I studied church music, electronic keyboard and theory with in Fairlight, East Sussex.
Awards include:
Accepted onto BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Voices
Scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Recital awards in Bournemouth and St Albans awarded by Oundle for Organists
Most promising musician at the Hastings Music Festival
Composer-In-Association with the City Chamber Choir
Royal College of Music / BBC Proms Inspire scheme
Accepted onto BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Voices
Scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Recital awards in Bournemouth and St Albans awarded by Oundle for Organists
Most promising musician at the Hastings Music Festival
Composer-In-Association with the City Chamber Choir
Royal College of Music / BBC Proms Inspire scheme