Matthew Shiel is a British pianist who performs 200+ performances every year internationally across UK, USA and Australia in partnership with the Edinburgh, Brighton, Adelaide, Melbourne and Hollywood Fringe Festivals.In 2025, Matthew Shiel made history by performing the world’s first piano recital of music composed by artificial intelligence at the Edinburgh Festival; his performance was subsequently commissioned by Dame Wendy Hall’s Web Science Institute (University of Southampton) and broadcast on Al Jazeera.He has notably performed at Usher Hall and The National Portrait Gallery of Scotland (Edinburgh), The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (Newcastle), Glasgow City Halls and has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland.Matthew has received multiple 5-star reviews in the press:

“a most enchanting concert”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edinburgh Guide“masters of their crafts”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Binge Fringe“profound”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Corr Blimey

Matthew is an Usher Hall and Live Music Now Scotland artist, artistic director of Fringe Classics and a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

My Creative Work

WATCH Matthew's interview and piano performance on Al Jazeera (broadcast: Aug 9, 2025)

"Matthew Shiel has ‘composed’ a most enchanting concert, relating amusing, enlightening stories to introduce each piece; his eloquent performance expresses a dramatic, emotional mood from sad and sorrowful to light-hearted and lyrical, oozing a joyful sense of romantic love."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edinburgh Guide

WATCH Matthew play piano with his jazz band at Edinburgh Festival 2025

"Sim and Shiel both are masters of their crafts. Sim declaimed the poetry beautifully, injecting the words with a rich Scottish accent fitting for the great Scottish wordsmith. Shiel is a gifted musician, showing especial regard for dynamics and musical structure. He lead the audience through the three-part Sonata form of the piano pieces with great clarity, showcasing the fascinating structure of the classical selections."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Binge Fringe

"By the time Shiel arrived at his performance of Farewell to Stromness, there was a real sense of suspension washing over the sea of glistening eyes. A very special moment indeed, fully to Shiel’s credit. This was one of the songs I hadn’t recognised going into this evening, which made it all the sweeter – a composite of familiar and lesser-known songs, the program informed with subtlety, making you feel a part of a wider history which, though may not be available to all the New Town demographic, is certainly one I left having connected to on a profound, almost spiritual, level."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Corr Blimey

WATCH Matthew play Debussy's Clair de Lune at EdFringe25

“a spirited theatrical event... audacious in concept. The tension between programmatic novelty and emotional resonance is what gives the performance its heart. In the chapel’s hush, Shiel teases the audience with possibility, inviting us to imagine a future where artistry isn’t lost in cogs and code, but reborn in curious, collaborative invention”
RECOMMENDED SHOW! - Fringe Review

"Matthew Shiel shone in Mozart’s Adagio from Piano Concerto number 23 in A major’
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Three Weeks

WATCH Matthew play Chopin's Minute Waltz at Edinburgh Society of Musicians

“Matthew Shiel’s classical renditions of themes from blockbuster films will keep you guessing. Dressed in a kilt, the Edinburgh musician breathes life into iconic songs through a passionate piano performance as clips from silent films. Chaplin would mime an applause"
⭐⭐⭐ The Age (Australia)

"This lively evening of crowd-pleasing tunes and showmanship... we were assured the high standard we therefore expected would not be compromised... a poignant highlight was the pretty toy grand piano"
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Three Weeks

WATCH Matthew play Mozart's Sonata in F major (KV 332) at Edinburgh Society of Musicians

"Matthew Shiel has once again curated a truly enlightening selection of music sharing a languid, lyrical style and emotional mood...The audience was indeed 'spirited away' in a meditative, theatrical ambience of calm reflective light, art, poetry and music."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edinburgh Guide

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