Matthew Searles
Matthew Searles is Master of the Music at Buckfast Abbey. He oversees the Abbey’s wide-ranging music programme, including the daily Mass and Office, direction of the Abbey Choir and a popular concert series. He is also Executive Producer of Buckfast’s in-house record label, Ad Fontes. During his tenure as Master of the Music, the Abbey Choir has broadcast Vespers on BBC Radio 3 and released an album of music for Corpus Christi, including the premiere recording of Martin Baker’s Missa O sacrum convivium!, described in a five-star review by Choir & Organ as “a taste of heaven”. They have also collaborated with the Southern Sinfonia, Onyx Brass, and period instrument ensembles In Echo and Noxwode, both in the liturgy and on the concert platform. Prior to moving to Buckfast, Matthew was Sub-Organist of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. He is a prizewinning graduate of Royal Holloway, University of London, where he received First Class Honours. Matthew continued his studies at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Poitiers, France. He holds fellowships of the Royal College of Organists and the Royal Society of Arts.
