Crome Scholarship (2019)

RCS Trust Scholarship (2019)

Countertenor, Matt Paine, is a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Alexander Gibson Opera Studio under the tutelage of Iain Paton, Philip White and Duncan Williams, having previously graduated from The Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Michael Chance and Lawrence Zazzo. He was the grateful recipient of The RCS Trust and Crome Scholarships.

For Spring 2024 Matt is a singing member of the Alto Chorus in Hercules (Händel) in Komische Oper Berlin's co-production with Oper Frankfurt, conducted by David Bates and directed by Barrie Kosky.

Last year Matt made his role debut as Cyrus the Host (The Red Room, Tafreshipour) for Ensemble Fantômas at Teater Nordkraft in Aalborg, Denmark.

In 2022, Matt sang the role of Narciso (Agrippina, Händel) with English Touring Opera and covered the roles of Tamerlano (Tamerlano, Händel) with English Touring Opera and Roger (Dalia, Panufnik) with Garsington Opera. He also performed the role of Refugee (Flight, Dove) at RCS and covered the role of Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Britten) at Scottish Opera. In 2021, Matt covered the role of Dardano (Amadigi di Gaula, Händel) with both English Touring Opera and Garsington Opera as an Alvarez Young Artist. He also prepared the title role of ​Cesare – Giulio Cesare, Händel (RCS), which was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid-19. Matt has also had the pleasure of being a Young Artist on Longborough Festival Opera’s Emerging Artist programme where he performed as Ottone in their production of L’incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) under the direction of Jenny Miller & Jeremy Silver.

During his time at the RCS Matt has performed the roles of Boy/Angel – Written on Skin (Benjamin); Orfeo – Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck); Nerone - L'incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi); and Filch – Die Dreigroschenoper (Weill).

Matt has a passion for modern operas and is an excellent sight reader. Most recently he has recorded new works with the Red Note Ensemble, collaborating with composers and musicians at the RCS as part of their contemporary music festival PLUG.

Whilst at the RAM he performed a number of roles, including Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rinaldo in Händel’s Rinaldo, and Tolomeo in Händel’s Giulio Cesare. Other operatic engagements include Sorcerer - Dido & Aeneas (Purcell); Athamas – Semele (Händel); Sosarme – Sosarme, re di Media (Händel); and Endimione - La Calisto (Cavalli).

As a concert soloist Matt has performed in Händel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, and Christmas Oratorio, Mozart’s Requiem, Durufle’s Requiem, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus. Matthew has had the pleasure of working with the English Concert under the direction of Harry Bickett and Robert Howarth, the Academy’s Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series led by Iain Ledingham & Ton Koopman and the Southbank Sinfonia with Simon Over.

​Before the Royal Academy of Music, Matt was at the University of Bristol studying a BA in Music and graduated in the summer of 2014. He also held a Lay Clerk position at Bristol Cathedral. During his time at Bristol, Matt pursued a freelance career in the South West collaborating with many artists and ensembles including War Horse director Tom Morris for performances of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and Handel’s Messiah at the Bristol Old Vic.

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