Best, Matthew

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Best, Matthew

Best, Matthew, English conductor and bass; b. Farnborough, Feb. 6, 1957. He was a choral scholar at King’s Coll., Cambridge (M.A.), and studied with Otakar Kraus, at the National Opera Studio (1978–80), and with Robert Lloyd and Patrick Maguigan. In 1973 he founded the Corydon Singers, which he subsequently conducted in an expansive repertoire. In 1978 he made his operatic debut as Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with the Cambridge Univ. Opera Soc. From 1980 to 1986 he was a member of the Royal Opera at London’s Covent Garden. In 1982 he won the Kathleen Ferrier Prize. From 1998 he served as principal conductor of the Hanover Band in Hove, Sussex. His appearances as a bass took him to London, Glyndebourne, Leeds, Cardiff, Frankfurt am Main, Salzburg, and other music centers. As a conductor, he led various choral performances and appeared as a guest conductor with many orchs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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