Matt's Mental Health Story
IG: Schizophrenic and loving life
Matt Geer (b. 1996) is a composer and organist from Hastings, England. His music engages with philosophical questions around how we experience time and how our consciousness fluctuates during a piece of music. Matt is studying for a PhD in music at Queen's University Belfast under Simon Mawhinney and Piers Hellawell. He completed his undergraduate studies in composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under James Weeks and Laurence Crane where he graduated in July 2020. At the Guildhall, he was composer in association with the City Chamber Choir and had his music performed and workshopped by the likes of the BBC singers, EXAUDI, Line Upon Line, Lakeside Brass, musicians from the LPO, the clarinettist Heather Roche and the contemporary pianist Satoko Inoue. In 2017, Matt wrote an opera Sane and Sound which documented his journey suffering from psychosis and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His mental health has immensely impacted his compositional practice, and he often uses composing as a form of therapy. Matt also has an interest in contemporary organ music. He studied organ through the Royal College of Organists at the University of Sussex under James Lloyd Thomas and under Simon Williams at St George's, Hanover Square. He is director of music at St Agnes, Kennington Park and, in his spare time, enjoys playing music written by fellow composers.
Website: www.mattgeer.co.uk