Matthew Richards (pianist)

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Matthew Richards
Matthew James Richards.jpg
Richards performing at The Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, c. 2017]]
Born22 March 1988 (age 36)
Wolverhampton
OccupationPianist
Website www.matthewjamesrichards.co.uk

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]

Mstthew 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]

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Adam (9 April 2023). "Blind Wolverhampton pianist releases album after starring on TV show The Piano".
  2. 1 2 "The blind pianist with perfect pitch". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  3. 1 2 "'Musical Memories' concert to raise funds for charity and historic pipe organ". www.shropshirestar.com. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  4. ↑ Gibb, Bill (October 14, 2023), The People's Friend, p. 21
  5. ↑ "Blackcountry Man Music Night Cruise – Remembering George Formby – Friday 28th July 2017 | The Bonded Warehouse". 2017-05-14. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  6. ↑ www.carehome.co.uk https://www.carehome.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1686114/george-formby-music-lives-on-at-broadway-halls . Retrieved 2025-02-18.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Matthew Richards feature on The Piano". www.georgeformby.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  8. 1 2 Rodger, James (2020-05-04). "Wolverhampton musician goes viral with cover of When I'm Cleaning Windows". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  9. ↑ "George Formby Society celebrates diamond anniversary of keeping Wigan entertainer's memory alive". Wigan Today. 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  10. ↑ "Zooming Windows | A S H Smyth". The Critic Magazine. 2021-03-20. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  11. ↑ "Coronavirus in England: Latest updates". BBC News. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  12. ↑ Williams, Richard (2023-06-27). "TV's piano tuner Matthew to hold concert for historic organ at church". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  13. ↑ "BBC Radio WM - Rakeem Omar, 'It feels amazing to have done this' Wolverhampton pianist who is blind releases album". BBC. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
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