Matthew Schellhorn

Matthew Schellhorn stands out among English pianists for his focused attention on Olivier Messiaen’s output and on contemporary scores. He also serves as an educator on the faculty at Cambridge University.

Born February 4, 1977, in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, he trained first at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and subsequently at Girton College, Cambridge. His principal teachers were David Hartigan, Maria Curcio, and Yvonne Loriod, Messiaen’s second wife; he later supplied an essay on Loriod for a volume of Messiaen studies. Schellhorn’s first appearance on record occurred in 2008 on the Signum Classics album Messiaen: Chamber Music, recorded with the Soloists of the Philharmonia Orchestra and containing the Quatuor pour la fin du temps. An active chamber musician apart from his solo work, he has performed with the Carducci, Fitzwilliam, and RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartets and has accompanied singers, including violinist Aisha Orazbayeva on her album Outside.

His debut solo disc, Ian Wilson: Stations, was released in 2014 on the Diatribe label and was introduced by a benefit concert supporting Christians in the Middle East. He has appeared as concerto soloist under conductors such as Baldur Brönnimann, David Brophy, and Stephen Cleobury. Beyond Messiaen, Schellhorn has commissioned more than 140 solo and chamber pieces and given numerous world premieres of works by composers including Wilson, Nicola LeFanu, and Gráinne Mulvey. He has been featured on BBC Radio 3 and Radio France and has published research on Stravinsky’s influence on Messiaen. In 2017 he joined soprano Susanna Fairbairn for a Naxos recording of songs by Geoffrey Bush and Joseph Horovitz; he returned to the label in 2020 and 2022 for two volumes of piano music by Herbert Howells.