About

An artist of great versatility, Wood regularly conducts symphonic, operatic, ballet, and contemporary music repertoires across the globe.

In the UK, his engagements have included the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Ballet Covent Garden, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, where he held the position of Associate Conductor. In Australia, Wood has conducted leading ensembles, including the Melbourne, Tasmanian, and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and served as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. Wood has also been a regular guest conductor at the Royal Swedish Opera House, Stockholm, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile, and Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia in Madrid.

Wood’s conducting has been lauded for “drawing unexpected colours out of the great welter of sound” (Sydney Morning Herald). Michael Dervan of the Irish Times noted the “brooding intensity” and “gorgeous sounds” elicited from the orchestra.

In 2016, Matthew made his Swedish debut with performances of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha with Folkoperan Stockholm and returned to the company for additional performances throughout 2017 and 2018 in Copenhagen’s Folketeatret and in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) New York. The glowing reviews praised the “clarity of musical lines and delicacy of intent … in the disciplined hands of Australian conductor Matthew Wood, who paces everything perfectly and shapes the long, slowly changing vocal lines with flair and imagination” (Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine).

In 2021, Matthew was invited to take the post of Head of Artistic Programming and Production with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, where he works to redefine the parameters of classical music programming. He is a keen advocate of new music, and regularly commissions new works by composers such as Ross Edwards, Iain Grandage, Lachlan Skipworth, Matthew Hindson, Nigel Butterley, Daniel Rojas, and Elena Kats-Chernin.

Wood is frequently engaged by new music ensembles such as Halcyon and is also in demand as a conducting teacher. He has been a regular guest lecturer and conductor at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he held the prestigious position of Conducting Fellow. During this time, he was selected to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra as part of its conductor discovery series, where he was mentored by Sir Mark Elder and Sir Colin Davis.

Matthew majored in composition and graduated with first-class honours at the University of New South Wales. He focused on conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium and later studied under renowned conductor-pedagogue Jorma Panula.