What is Music and the City?
MATC connects amateur and professional string and wind musicians and music-lovers through regular musical evenings in central London and Melbourne.
Musicians from across the cities come together to play chamber music in an environment inspired by the musical salons of 1920s Vienna.
Our Mission
To create an opportunity for musicians of all levels to play with like-minded people in a convivial and sophisticated atmosphere. To create a great event for the many professional Londoners and Melburnians who enjoy playing musical instruments, but could never find the time to join a regular orchestra or meet other musicians.
MATC People
Clare Barrins, Director & Co-founder
Clare is currently based in the heart of Silicon Valley, working for Apple. She arrived in the US after living in Melbourne, Australia for five years. Before that, she spent six years working in London for J.P. Morgan and ABN AMRO.
She is a Law and Arts graduate of Monash University, where she learnt and played violin for many years. When Clare moved to London she took up violin-playing again, an experience which inspired the creation of Music and the City.
Simon Hewitt Jones, Artistic Director & Co-founder
Simon is an English violinist. He is the lead violinist of Fifth Quadrant, a London-based Classical and Contemporary music group, and a researcher at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
He has appeared as a featured performer at many UK and international festivals and concert series, including the Henley and Spitalfields festivals. He has appeared with Diego Masson and the Ramallah Orchestra performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto in Jerusalem, and co-curated a concert tour called ‘Road to Jericho’, featuring contemporary British and Palestinian music in concerts both in the UK and in the Middle East. He is also a session violinist in London, where he has appeared on several film soundtracks, recordings and broadcasts for BBC, EMI, Virgin, and Universal Music.
He is the founder of ViolinSchool, an international centre for violin tuition and research based in London, UK.
Hewitt Jones previously co-founded Court Lane Music, an independent Classical record label whose premiere recording of string chamber music by Imogen Holst won a BBC Music Magazine award.