About
Matt Ford is the UK’s most experienced and in-demand Swing Era vocalist. A veteran of over 2000 Big Band concerts, with the likes of The Syd Lawrence Orchestra, BBC Big Band, Len Philips Swing Orchestra and John Wilson Orchestra, Matt’s career spans 4 decades, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Matt has featured in 4 BBC Proms concerts (2011, 2013, 2016 & 2019), with live broadcasts of these on BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC Radio 3. Other TV and radio credits include; Friday Night is Music Night (tributes to Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Alan J Lerner & Gene Kelly), BBC Big Band Special (30th Anniversary Special), SKY Arts 1 & 2 (Cole Porter in Hollywood & 100 Years of Big Bands), BBC Four (The Sound of Song), BBC One (The One Show), ITV (Titchmarsh) and BBC Radio 3 (In Tune).
Matt made his US Debut in October 2013 in Los Angeles with the John Wilson Orchestra alongside Seth MacFarlane, Anna Jane Casey, Sierra Boggess and Julian Ovenden, and followed this in 2016 with his debut in France, presenting a live broadcast on French national radio with his own show from the ‘Auditorium de la Maison de la radio’.
On the orchestral scene, over the last 20 years Matt has performed regularly with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Halle, CBSO, RTE Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Philharmonia, John Wilson Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Scottish Symphony and Irish National Symphony Orchestras.
Matt has performed at many of the UK’s most prestigious music festivals, including Henley, Aldeburgh, Petworth, Malling, Thaxted, Cheltenham, Newbury, Harrogate and Newry. International festival credits include Grafenegg (Austria), Ovar (Portugal) and Musikfest (Berlin).
As a recording artist, 2022 saw Matt release ‘From Abbey Road’, a live Big Band album recorded at the iconic London venue’s Studio 2. The single release from the album, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, not only reached #1 in the iTunes Jazz Chart, but placed in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 40.
2023 has seen Matt perform again with The Halle (Music of Bond), travel to Dubai (Vienna Ball with LPSO), to Portugal (Glenn Miller Orchestra UK), and make his debut with Opera North. In March Matt once again paid tribute to Frank Sinatra, with the Manchester Concert Orchestra, in Simply Sinatra at The Bridgewater Hall. Later in 2023 Matt will once again team up with John Wilson, to tour the UK with The Sinfonia of London, in a show celebrating the golden age of Hollywood.