Conductor

Cellist

Kindred spirits Matthew Barley and Mishka Rushdie Momen share a refreshing attitude to thinking about and performing music, always ready to reject tired conventions yet alive to the essential spirit that unites the best of past and present. Their programme revels in the cello’s singing line, present in Barley’s elegant transcriptions of Lieder by Robert Schumann and the lyrical warmth and expressive gravity of Brahms’s First Cello Sonata.

EPSG:4326

Matthew Barley cello; Mishka Rushdie Momen piano

Wigmore Hall

Let cellist and conductor Matthew Barley take you on a spiritual journey through sound. The concert opens with Arvo Pärt's Fratres, a meditative work that unfolds slowly, like a musical breath - each note emerging carefully from the silence. From there, Barley's own inspired improvisation and Astor Piazzolla's tango Milonga del Angel will lead us into Pärt's Festina lente, a piece of enchanting simplicity that resonates with serene beauty and spiritual depth. Pärt's music invites you to pause and listen to the spaces between the notes.

Pärt & Tavener

Nieuwe Kerk, The Hague

Light Stories presents tales from Matthew Barley’s life, told through music and projected imagery, narrating his search for meaning in music-making and how, in time, he came to heal past wounds. The performance incorporates pieces by Joby Talbot, Anna Meredith, John Metcalfe and Bach with new works by Barley, connected by moments of improvisation and electronics.

Matthew Barley: Light Stories

Bute Park

The cellist harnesses the power of music to console, comfort and uplift in a specially commissioned concert experience, with visuals from Yeast Culture.

Southbank Centre

Contrasts can be a source of the most intense emotions. Calm and anxiety, light and darkness, movement and stillness: although seemingly exclusive, they often form a fascinating whole in music. It is precisely this tension between opposites that binds this concert programme together.

Conductor, Cellist

Matthew Barley

Events

Upcoming events

May 8, 2027

Szymanowski / Golijov / Tchaikovsky · Polish National Opera

Past events

Jul 5, 2026

Matthew Barley cello; Mishka Rushdie Momen piano · Wigmore Hall

May 30, 2026

Pärt & Tavener · Residentie Orkest Den Haag

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cello in Cello Sonata No. 1 by Brahms

Wigmore Hall

Cello in Azul by Golijov

Polish National Opera

About

Matthew Barley hasn't added a bio