Matthew Stiff

Matthew Stiff
Stiff at G4's last concert in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Matthew William Tansley Stiff
Born	13 December 1979 (1979-12-13) (age 31)
Origin	Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Genres	Classical Easy listening Operatic pop Vocal
Occupations	Singer Bass
Years active	2004–present

Matthew William Tansley Stiff (born 13 December 1979 in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire) is a bass singer, formerly with British vocal group G4 and a former Classic FM radio presenter.

Early life

Matthew began playing trombone at age 8. He played in the Cleethorpes District Youth Orchestra, Kingsway Printers Cleethorpes Band & the Market Rasen Band. A-level subjects: Music, Psychology, English literature, Philosophy & Cultural beliefs. Grade 8 singing. He studied music at the University of Huddersfield where he gained BMus (Hons) and a Master's Degree in Musical Performance. He also earned a Master's Degree at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2003/4.

G4

G4, consisting of Jonathan Ansell, Mike Christie, Ben Thapa and Stiff; started singing together to raise money to help pay for their education. As a group they attended the ITV talent show "The X-Factor" and although they came second in the competition, signed a £1.5 million record deal with Sony-BMG. Their first album, titled G4 was released in February 2005 and achieved double-platinum status. They went on to produce two more albums: G4 and Friends and G4 Act Three.

After G4 split in April 2007, lead singer Jonathan Ansell admitted that he and Stiff rowed the most.^[1]

After G4

In February 2008 Matthew joined Classic FM and presented on overnights at weekends until June 2009.

In June 2009 Matthew Stiff joined Opera North to appear in the chorus in a production of Don Carlos.

He will be returning to the Guildhall School of Music to start a 2 year course in Opera in September 2009.

References

1. ^ "Jonathan Ansell admits to G4 clashes". Digital Spy. 4 January 2008. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/xfactor/a82738/jonathan-ansell-admits-to-g4-clashes.html. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 

External links

• The G4 section at ClassicalX
• Classic FM Show Classic FM Show

Persondata
Name	Stiff, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 December 1979
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death