Composer-researcher · Educator · Workshop Leader
Dr Matt Geer is a composer-researcher and educator specialising in composition, creative practice research, contemporary music, systems-based composition, sacred music, and music for screen. He studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and completed a PhD in Music Composition at Queen’s University Belfast, where he has also taught at undergraduate level. His academic work explores musical time, consciousness, ritual, systems, repetition, permutation, and listening through creative practice.
Matt is available for guest lectures, workshops, composition tuition, portfolio supervision, undergraduate teaching, and selected academic collaborations. Click below to download Matt's academic CV:
Matt is available for guest lectures, workshops, composition tuition, portfolio supervision, undergraduate teaching, and selected academic collaborations. Click below to download Matt's academic CV:
| Dr Matt Geer - Academic CV |
Teaching Areas
Matt is available to teach, lecture, or lead workshops in the following areas:
|
Composition and Creative Practice
|
Research and Aesthetics
|
Guest Lectures and Workshops
Matt offers lectures and workshops for universities, colleges, conservatoires, schools, choirs, youth music organisations, and community groups.
Possible topics include:
Possible topics include:
|
Composition Workshops
Composing from Limited Material A practical workshop on generating larger musical structures from small cells, patterns, intervals, gestures, or harmonic ideas. From Sketch to Finished Score A session on developing initial ideas, making compositional decisions, revising material, and preparing a finished score. Writing for Performers A workshop on idiomatic instrumental/vocal writing, notation, playability, rehearsal practicality, and communication with performers. Notation and Score Presentation A practical session on clarity, layout, performer communication, and professional preparation of scores and parts. Composition Portfolio Development A workshop for students preparing university, conservatoire, postgraduate, or call-for-scores portfolios. Research and Contemporary Music Lectures Systems, Repetition, and Musical Time An introduction to systems-based composition, permutation, repetition, process, and the listener’s experience of time. Composition as Research A lecture on creative practice as academic research, including methods, documentation, reflection, and portfolio-based PhD work. Music, Consciousness, and Listening A lecture exploring how music can shape attention, perception, memory, and subjective time. Ritual, Stillness, and Contemporary Composition A session on repetition, sacred space, meditative listening, and ritualised musical form. |
Screen and Applied Music Workshops
Introduction to Documentary Scoring A practical workshop on spotting, emotional pacing, silence, cue placement, collaboration, and writing music that supports real-world stories. Music for Short Film and Animation A workshop for filmmakers and composers on communication, deadlines, temp tracks, revisions, and musical storytelling. Working with Directors A session on how composers can collaborate professionally with filmmakers, theatre makers, artists, and non-musicians. Choral, Organ, and Sacred Music Workshops Writing for Choirs A workshop on text setting, vocal range, choral texture, rehearsal practicality, and writing for amateur, student, and church choirs. Writing for Organ A practical introduction to registration, manuals, pedals, resonance, idiomatic writing, and composing for sacred spaces. Contemporary Sacred Music A lecture/workshop exploring how contemporary composition can engage with liturgy, ritual, tradition, and spiritual practice. |
Composition Tuition and Portfolio Support
Matt offers individual support for composers, students, and early-career musicians.
|
Composition Support
Possible areas of tuition include:
|
Portfolio Review Sessions
A portfolio review session can include feedback on:
|