Colin Matthews at 80

“I certainly look back at that 14-year-old in Leytonstone and can’t recognise him at all. I don’t think he would recognise me. But I think we would be quite happy with ourselves.” – CM (read Barrie Gavin interview here)

Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst & Aldeburgh

Despite his unconventional start, Colin landed a role in his mid-twenties that was to be pivotal, working as an assistant to Benjamin Britten on pieces such the opera Death in Venice. He formed a close bond with Imogen Holst, collaborating with her on new editions of her father’s works – most notably The Planets.

“Britten wasn't easy as a person, but we got on quite well – largely, I suspect, because I was aware of his stature without being in awe of him as many were. There was a certain detachment in our relationship. We didn't have heart-to hearts: there was work to do.” – CM (BBC Music Magazine Jan 2026)

“Imogen Holst was a visionary. When together we established the Holst Foundation, not long before her death in 1984, she was clear that she did not want its future role to be to subsidise her father’s music in the way that most other composer trusts function. Instead she hoped that it would be able to support the work of living composers; and this is what the Foundation has done ever since. We had talked at length about the possibility of funding recordings, and although it took a while to get NMC off the ground, I have always felt that the label was founded with her blessing, and that she would have approved whole-heartedly of what we have achieved since 1989.” – CM (Read more here)

Colin - the composer

Over five decades Colin’s music has ranged from solo piano music through five string quartets and many ensemble and orchestral works. He has been Associate Composer with the Hallé and LSO. Having said he’d never write an opera, in 2025 A Visit to Friends was premiered at Aldeburgh Festival and received rave reviews. ‘It’s an opera that should be taken up by any company desirous to prove there’s still life in the genre … sensitivity to word-setting worthy of Britten." The Telegraph

And proof that a composer’s career can take unpredictable turns, at a Euro 1996 charity performance of Colin’s Toy Symphony Machines and Dreams, international football players joined schoolchildren and celebrities to perform the piece, alongside the LSO, at the Barbican. 

Frank Skinner and David Baddiel joined in with the kids, along with Vinnie Jones on percussion.  

“At the end of the third movement, [Vinnie Jones] moved menacingly across the stage and mimed shooting a child who was making cuckoo noises. He didn't need to; his stare would have been enough to silence her” – The Independent (Full review of the concert here)

Colin’s daughter Lucy was the cuckoo! 

Colin Matthews is Founder and Executive Producer of NMC Recordings, President and Music Advisor of Britten-Pears Arts, and Director of the Holst Foundation. His commitment to the next generation is reflected in his roles as Director of the LSO Panufnik scheme and Prince Consort Professor at the Royal Academy of Music. 

When Colin manages to have a day off he says he enjoys to cook and loves all food that goes with wine (he admits he is a wine obsessive!) except celery and strawberries. He has recently discovered a knack of bringing orchids back to life once they've stopped flowering and tries very hard to keep up with current scientific topics to make up for the fact that he was allowed to drop science for Greek at the age of 13 (a prime number – another of Colin’s interests).  He tries to read at least 50 books a year and enjoys listening to Tom Waits.