Matthew Richards | |
|---|---|
 Richards performing at The Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, c. 2017 | |
| Born | 22 March 1988 Wolverhampton |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, Piano Tuner, Ukulele Player, Composer |
| Website | www |
Matthew James Richards is an English pianist based in Wolverhampton, England. [1] Matthew possesses the ability of Perfect pitch since first discovering this at the young age of 5. [2] [3] Born partially sighted he attended the Royal National College for the Blind in which he studied Piano tuning. [4]
Matthew also plays the Ukulele performing the music of George Formby, nostalgia entertainment and sing along songs. [5] [6] He is the musical director of the George Formby Society. [7] [8] and was made an honorary member by the mayor of Blackpool in 2021. [9]
During the COVID-19 pandemic Matthew hosted virtual zoom meetings to allow members to perform together during the Lockdown of 2020 [10] he put together videos of all the members performing George Formby songs on YouTube that gained news coverage. [11] [8]
Matthew was featured on Channel 4 - The Piano. [2] [12] He has released an album featuring his original composition 'Tide of Dreams' that he performed on the show. [13] He regularly performs a 'musical memories' concert featuring both Piano and Ukulele. [3] For the 80th anniversary of VE Day he has fulfilled a series of memorial concerts to mark the occasion. [14] [15]