Matthew – known to his friends as Matt - grew up in Oxford, moving to Harrogate in 2010. He passed away on June 19th 2011, aged 23. A gifted alto sax and keyboard player, Matt was into music from a very early age. His wide ranging taste was obvious from early on and he embraced everyone from Bach to Charlie Parker. When he was 7 years old and was asked who his favourite composer was, he innocently replied “Thelonius Monk”. Like many of his schoolmates, he worked his way through his piano grades, and then, showing where his real passion lay, the new Jazz piano syllabus. When he was 15, he performed his moving blues composition, Relax, with other winners of Christopher Norton’s Young Composer’s Competition at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich. But his true love was always the alto saxophone. Whether busking in Oxford, performing with the Oxford Schools’ Orchestra, playing in a band with his father or with his mates, his heart lay with the sax. Having been working with Raleigh International for 3 months he and a friend stumbled across a rundown music shop in Namibia. His friend recalls, “Like a rocket he flew in, grabbed a sax off the shelves, and just as the shop staff were about to wrestle it back off him he just let fly with an amazing solo that stunned everyone into silence. For a few minutes the shop staff were mesmerized into doing nothing... He received a small round of applause from customers before the shop keepers snatched it back.” There were many other sides to Matt. He was a fine footballer, cricketer, a great mate, a loving son and a kind, supportive brother but music was the cornerstone of his life, so much so that he was planning to go to Leeds College of Music to further his musical journey. Matt's family believe that the work that Youth Music does reflects the major threads of his life which is why they have chosen to support us.