Matthew Toogood is an Australian born classical & operatic conductor, pianist and recording artist based in Berlin, Germany. He was most recently Music Director ad Interim of the Opera at the Stadttheater Bern, Switzerland - otherwise known as the Konzert Theater Bern - during which time he debuted the first Swiss performance of Szymanowski's Król Roger, and Premiere productions of Janaček’s Jenufa, Verdi’s Otello, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, and Rossini’s Il barbiere di siviglia. He has worked as a Kapellmeister at the Nationaltheater Mannheim under General Music Director, Alexander Soddy, Guest conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin with Barrie Kosky, Assistant and Pianist at the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle and Simon Halsey, and as Guest Music Staff at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Oper Frankfurt. He has collaborated with the Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin on a re-orchestration of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. He has made a number of cross-over classical recordings with the Nationaltheater Mannheim Orchestra, including the operatic world premiere of Björk's Vespertine in collaboration with Hotel Pro Forma and Kommando Himmelfahrt, Synth Happens with Andreas Henneberg, and The Glitz. Matthew has collaborated in alternative musical performances with Friedrich Liechtenstein and Marie Pohl.