In the modern classical landscape, few artists wear as many hats as composer and producer Matthew Whiteside. A creative force behind The Night With…, Matthew has built a career defined by curiosity, independence, and a commitment to helping other musicians thrive.
As a composer, Matthew’s work spans from chamber pieces for Scottish Opera and Stockholm Chamber Brass to film and television, including Michael Palin’s Quest for Artemisia for the BBC.
But his vision extends far beyond writing scores.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Matthew Whiteside working in multiple areas in music. As a composer, concert producer, sync agent, and educator and advocator. As a composer I write primarily concert chamber music for classical musicians such as writing for Scottish Opera or Stockholm Chamber Brass but also work occasionally in film and TV scoring Michael Palin’s Quest for Artemisia for BBC.
I run The Night With… which I set up in 2016 taking contemporary classical and experimental music into non-concert hall spaces across Scotland. Through that I present national and international composers and performers and commission new works for the ensembles from a mix of established and emerging composers. The Night With… is also a record label recording and releasing the music performed at the concerts. We’ve released 10 albums since 2020 and have another five in the works.
As a sync agent I’m working with my business partner Naomi Belshaw to pitch a catalogue of around 30,000 masters of classical and contemporary classical music to film and TV. This is a relatively new venture but is quickly gaining traction.
Finally as an educator and advocator I write The Guidebook to Self-Releasing Your Music to support composers, songwriters, and performers in navigating the rights and registrations they need to release their music. I also guide people through the process through mentoring and giving talks for other organisations and I sit on the Musicians Union Executive Committee. Basically trying to support musicians in any way I can sharing my experiences.
What drew you to your role and what keeps you interested in this work?
One of the things I tell people, especially students, is to be interested and interesting. That is the logic behind everything I do. It is where I started, realising no one would be as invested in my music as I was, so I began putting it on myself and then offering that opportunity to other people to support and develop them. That is how I became interested in the music business side of what I do, trying to help people and develop their music alongside my own.
What keeps me interested is the sheer amount of music being written across the world right now, drawing on the canon of Western classical music. And that is before even talking about more than a thousand years of musical history. Every concert I put on could easily become many more based on the works I want to programme and the composers I want to commission.
I have intentionally designed the work that I do to be varied and interesting for me. Its never just one thing. Every day I always try to start with a few hours of composition for a new piece I’m writing and then shift over to admin in the afternoon. Either meetings, or setting up adverts, designing a concert programme, or writing funding applications and then spend a few more hours composing in the evening. This kind of balance is the only way I’ve worked out to balance my creative work and the music business side of work. Also being able to travel the world listening to amazing music as part of my work is such an immense privilege. It really makes up for the admin of music that needs to done!
What’s one thing about your industry most outsiders get wrong?
One of the frustrating things about people’s perception of classical music is the idea that it is just one thing. Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Bach are household names, but there is so much more to explore. There is a huge amount of crossover in how composers today treat sound and structure, in the same way songwriters shape their craft. I really believe there is something for every taste within classical music, and contemporary classical music is often closer to Aphex Twin than to Beethoven in how the soundworlds work. You don’t have to like everything you hear in a concert or on an album but trying it can blow your mind.
A book or podcast you recommend?
Freakonomics is my go-to podcast. Not just the main show but also The Economics of Everyday Things and their other one No Stupid Questions. They explore topics you might not otherwise come across or even think to ask about, and they examine each one through psychological and economic points of view. A few months ago they ran a series on the business of musicals that unpacked development timelines and investment strategies in multi-million dollar shows, which got me thinking about how I manage The Night With… At the moment they are running a series on the air-traffic-control network in America. On the face of it that might not seem interesting, but at its core it is about how to manage investment, capacity building and human relationships, which is essentially the music industry! I find it really useful to look at other sectors, understand how they work and then apply what is relevant to my own practice to varying degrees.
It was through No Stupid Questions that I landed on what I realised is my life’s mission statement: to make good music (happen). That covers both the writing and the presentation of all of my work.
How can our readers keep up to date with what you have happening?
As a composer I am @mwhitesidecomp on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok and
http://www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk
The Night With… is @thenightwith on Instagram, and Facebook.
http://www.thenightwith.com
You can sign up to both the mailing lists on the website.
