Projects
Matthew Kofi Waldren is from a mixed British and Ghanaian background. From an early age he was aware of the societal challenges facing people of colour, and he is a passionate advocate of music and opportunity for everyone.
He often leads projects that champion, empower and celebrate unheard or underrepresented voices and stories in addition to projects that widen access and inclusion to Classical Music. In this capacity Matthew has appeared as a contributor on BBC Radio 4 Front Row, BBC Radio 3 In Tune, and for The Guardian newspaper.
PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT
Matthew is working with BBCCO and BBC Radio 3 on an exciting new ‘dual purpose’ commercial recording and concert. As project lead, Matthew is programming the disc and co-ordinating work between funding bodies and external partners with colleagues at the BBC.
With Revere Arts and Universal, Matthew is working on a disc of new works by ‘Up-and-Coming’ composers of colour.
RECENT PROJECTS
The Eyes of Ghana documentary was produced by Higher Ground, Breakwater Studios and IShowSpeed. Matthew conducted Kris Bowers’s sound track to the movie with Chineke! Orchestra. This story, that tells Ghana’s story of independence through a Ghanaian film maker’s lens, was close to home for Matthew, whose grandfather came from Ghana to the UK shortly before independence.
Watch the trailer here.
MIGRATIONS AND FREEDOM SUITE
Matthew led the world premiere of Migrations for Welsh National Opera in 2022, and subsequently led the premiere of Freedom, the orchestral suite based on the opera, in 2026 for Pegasus Opera and street orchestra Brixton Chamber Orchestra.
Migrations interweaved narratives of the impact and challenges of migration across centuries, including slavery (Pero Jones), climate change and bio-diversity (birds), Mayflower pilgrims (America), inward migration, colonisation and resource plundering (Cree Nation, Canada), The English Lesson (Refugees’ stories).
The opera, by composer Will Todd, also included work by composer and sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun, incorporating sitar and tabla into the orchestral sound world.
The opera included a children’s chorus, a Bollywood performance ensemble and the Bristol-based Gospel Choir, the Renewal Choir.
BLACK VOICES AND STORIES
With London Philharmonic Orchestra, he performed The Chevalier - an exploration of the life and work of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges.
With Chineke! Orchestra, Matthew gave the English premiere of Florence Price’s Symphony No.3 as well as the UK premiere of William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony No 1.
With Chineke! Orchestra and BBC Radio 3 in 2025, Matthew conducted a concert of works by black composers, all commissioned in the previous decade.
Matthew led the UK premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s opera, Blue, at ENO, which tells the story of the impact of a young black boy’s murder at the gun of a white police officer.
LA PETITE BOHÈME
An animation of La Bohème’s Act 3, which re-imagined Musetta as Musetto, recorded with Opera North during the Covid pandemic in 2020.
INCLUSION AND WIDENING ACCESS
With Sinfonia Smith Square, Matthew co-devised and curated a concert, at The Beacon concert hall, for Bristol’s Care Home Residents.
Matthew co-founded Your Turn Collective, an organisation which aimed to empower music creators from backgrounds underrepresented in Classical Music.
Matthew conducts Come and Sing projects with City of London Sinfonia - with open access to the public to come and sing great choral works with a professional orchestra.
Matthew sits on the City of London Sinfonia’s Artists Council, which offers feedback on the direction and clarity of the orchestra’s mission and projects.