Matthew Stiff

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Matthew Stiff bigraphy, stories - British musician

Matthew Stiff : biography

13 December 1979 –

Matthew William Tansley Stiff (born 13 December 1979 in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire) is a bass/baritone singer, formerly with British vocal group G4 and a former Classic FM radio presenter.

G4

G4, consisting of Jonathan Ansell, Mike Christie, Ben Thapa and Stiff; started singing together to raise money to help pay for their education. As a group they attended the ITV talent show "The X-Factor" and although they came second in the competition, signed a £1.5 million record deal with Sony-BMG. Their first album, titled G4 was released in February 2005 and achieved double-platinum status. They went on to produce two more albums: G4 and Friends and G4 Act Three with combined sales in excess of 1.5 million copies.

Future Plans

Prince Gremin – Eugine Onegin – Grange Park Opera at Nevill Holt Surin (Cover) – Queen of Spades – Grange Park Opera Kecal – The Bartered Bride – British Youth Opera

Operatic Roles

Ashby – La Fanciulla del West – Opera Up-Close King Balthazar – Amahl and the Night Visitors – Iford Figaro – Le nozze di Figaro – British Youth Opera King Rene – Iolanta – Guildhall School Le Geôlier – Dialogues des Carmélites – Guildhall School Togno – Spinalba – Guildhall School Charon – Euridice – British Youth Opera Don Magnifico – La Cenerentola – Clonter Opera Superintendent Budd – Albert Herring – Guildhall School Marchese d’Obigny – La Traviata – Chelsea Opera Group Pietro de Visantis – L’assedio di Calais – Guildhall School Antonio – Le nozze di Figaro – Music Cordiale Festival The Writer – Four White Walls and chorus Opera North

Early life

Matthew began playing trombone at age 8. He played in the Cleethorpes District Youth Orchestra, Kingsway Printers Cleethorpes Band & the Market Rasen Brass Band. A-level subjects: Music, Psychology, English literature, Philosophy & Cultural beliefs. ABRSM Grade 8 singing and Grade 8 Bass trombone. He studied music at the University of Huddersfield where he gained his BMus (Hons) and MA in Musical Performance. In 2011 he gained a Master of Music with Distinction on completion of the opera course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.