Cellist

Benjamin Matthews

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About Benjamin

Passionate performer, first instrument cello!
Cellist
Stoke-on-Trent
Public liability insurance of £1 million

I have loved playing the 'cello all my life, and am still in love with it. I can understand why you're looking for a 'cellist!! :) There are so many beautiful pieces for the 'cello to explore and play, but I always find more, that so far.. has been my main occupation! Finding, playing and exploring the 'cello and it's sound. It's an adventure worth listening to. There are many genres to hear, and once I think I know "classical" music, something more comes along! Folk, pop, jazz, so much to discover!

Encore badges
5 gigs
Experienced: 5 bookings through Encore
7th Anniversary
This act has been working with Encore for over 7 years
Member of the Encore community forum
Musicianship
Genres:
Classical, Jazz, Folk, Pop
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Instruments:
See all instruments
Event types:
Cruise
See all event types
Other skills:
Arranger, Orchestrator, Producer, Fluent improviser, Fluent sight-reader, Instrumental teaching, Theory teaching
See all skills

Benjamin's Song list

Bach Prélude in G
Pachelbel's canon
Bridal March
Trumpet Voluntary
Air on the G string
Sarabande in G
1000 years
Perfect
La vie en Rose
Game of thrones theme
Imagine
Let it be
All you need is love
Gabriel's Oboe/
(or the mission)
Hallelujah
Ave Maria
Think of me
All I ask of you
Fields of Gold
Edelweiss
Moon River
Jesu Joy of man's desiring
Winter
Various folk tunes
All of me - John Legend
Apologize - Timbaland
Bad day - Daniel Powter
Boston - Augustana
Brave - Sarah Bareiles
Breakable - Ingrid Michaelson
Brick-Ben Folds
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
City of stars - La La Land
Eet - Regina Spektor
Fallen - Sarah Mclachlan
Foolish Games - Jewel
Goodbye my lover - James Blunt
Hello - Adele
How to save a life - The Fray
Why would you feel - Ed Sheeran
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
I believe - Fantasia
I knew you were trouble - Taylor Swift
I'm yours - Jason Mraz
Just give me a reason - P!NK
Let it go - James Bay
Lost boy - Ruth B
Million reasons - Lady Gaga
My Immortal - Evanescen e
Next to me - Emeli Sande
No on - Alicia Keys
One call away - Charlie Puth
100 years - Five for fighting
Ordinary people - John Legend
Piece by piece - Kelly Clarkson
Roar - Katy Perry
Royals - Lorde
Say something - A great big world
Say you won't let go - James Artur
The Scientist - Coldplay
7 years - Luka Graham
Skinny love - birds
Skyscraper - demi Lovato
Someone like you - Adele
Somewhere Only we know - Keane
Stay - Rihanna
Stay with me - Sam Smith
Story of my life - One Direction
Stressed out - Twenty one pilots
Take a bow - Rihanna
Thinking out loud - Ed Sheeran
We are young - fun
When I was your Man - Bruno Mars
You raise me up - Josh Groban
Ain't no sunshine - Bill withers
As time goes by - Casablanca
Bleeding love - Leona lewis
Born to try - Delta Goodrem
California Dreaming' - the mams and papas
Can't help falling in love - Elvis Presley
Circle of life - Disney
Close every door - Joseph
Crazy - Patsy Cline
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don't know why - Norah Jones
Don't speak - no doubt
Eye of the tiger - Survivor
Feather theme 0 from Forrest Gump
foundations - Kate Nash
Glasgow -love theme from love actually
God bless the child
Goldfinger - from Goldfiner
Hey Jude - The Beatles
Hit the road Jack - Ray Charles
I got you ( I Feel good) - James brown
I say a little prayer - Aretha Franklin
I should be so lucky -= Kylie Minogue
I will survive - Gloria Gaynor
Theme - from Jurassic Park
Nothing compares to 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
Oops I did it again - Britney Spears
That's life - Frank Sinatra
A thousand miles - Vanessa Carlton
The tide is high - Blondie
Umbrella - Rihanna
The voice within - Christina Aguilera
What a wonderful world - Louis Amrstrong
Who do you think you are - spice girls
Yellow - Coldplay
Your song - Elton John
Only You (And You Alone)
The Power of Love
Celine Dion
The Rest of My Life
Bruno Mars
Something About the Way
You Look Tonight
Elton John
Thinking Out Loud
Ed Sheeran
This will Be (An Everlasting Love)
Natalle Cole
A Thousand Years
Christina Perri
Through the Years
Kenny Rogers
Till There Was You
from The Music Man
Time in a Bottle
Jim Croce
Truly, Madly, Deeply
Savage Garden
Unforgettable
Jazz Standard
Up Where We Belong
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
The Way I Am
Ingrid Michaelson
The Way You Look Tonight
Jazz Standard
When I Need You
Leo Sayer
When You Say Nothing at All
Alison Krauss & Union Station
You and Me
Lifehouse
You Are So Beautiful - joe Cocker
You Are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
You Send Me - Sam Cooke
You're Still the One - Shanla Twain
You're the Inspiration - Chicago
You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Customer questions

Do you have different line-up options?

Yes, we are flexible between instruments. Line-up options include: string quartet/trio/duo Piano + strings Guitar +strings Above +percussion

What if my timings change after I've booked you?

That shouldn't be a problem so long as you let us know as soon as you can.. normally we will be flexible enough to change, and if not we'd let you know straight away.

How much time do you need to set up?

No long! 15 minutes is all we really need. :)

Can I pick the pieces you play from the set list?

Yes, although our playlist is quite extensive, and it's not all on encore.. in our experience we find it best to give us a few requests and leave the rest to us :)

Do you bring all the equipment you need to perform?

Of course! Unless you want to provide us with a cup of tea, we have everything we need! You can relax ..!

Can you learn specific pieces before the event?

Given enough, for sure! Normally if the piece is a special request and we don't have it already, we do charge the cost of the music to buy. This is normally about £15.

What do your clients love most about your performances?

We always get comments about how happy we look to be playing together! Probably because we are!!! We love playing and I think it really comes across:)

Which venues have you performed at in the past?

Too many to name!

Which artists have you been most influenced by?

Mmm... Tricky one, there are a lot, but the ones that have really stuck are Vivaldi & Monteverdi -

What is the most high profile gig you've performed?

I'm not really into "high profile" - every gig is as important as every other. From the Sheldonian theatre to Fulford village hall... When we perform, we try to contribute to the environment, not the other way around :)

Benjamin's Prices

Note: prices may vary based on travel distance. For an exact quote, click “Check availability”.

Standard Prices
Performance durationPrice
Short performance (up to 15 min)£60
Up to 1 hour£80
Up to 2 hours£150
Up to 3 hours£220
Packages
standard hour
An hour at the venue, this is the standard for a ceremony, if you want me to play whilst you walk in and out, also for the signing of the register, normally it takes about an hour. For that there's normally a bit of time for me to entertain your lovely guests with some gorgeous music before you arrive.
£125
Duo
This Is for a duo, either harp, violin, or piano along with me, a 'cellist per hour. It's especially good if you've got a little extra in the budget and you want to have a really special sound for something magical like Pachelbell's canon.
£225
the whole thing
This is for 4 hours of wedding playing, this is for when you want a solo cellist to play for the ceremony, the drinks, the photographs and a little bit either side! It's a great package that whilst is more a little more expensive, gives you total peace of mind that no matter what happens with the timings of the day, your musician will be there at the ready.
£500

Add-ons

Extra player
+£75
Recording
+£200
Benjamin
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5 out of 5
9 verified reviews
Satisfaction
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5.0
Professionalism
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5.0
Communication
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5.0
Punctuality
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5.0

Benjamin's Reviews

From Encore customers:

NT
Natalie T
1 year ago
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5 out of 5

Benjamin and his wife Rosie were fabulous. There music was beautiful, they were professional and friendly. I am so pleased how they played at our drinks reception. I could of listened to them all day. I would 110% recommend them. They were simply beautiful. Thank you so much.

Reply from Benjamin
1 year ago

Thank you Natalie! It was a pleasure playing at your wedding, thank you so much for inviting us. ❤️

SR
Shammie R
1 year ago
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5 out of 5

Benjamin was truly wonderful throughout our entire booking including taking the time to learn an entire song for our bridal entrance. Even replaying our entrance song as I was that focused on getting down the aisle I just didn't hear the song, so was really touched. We also had a delay due to transport not arriving, so there was extra time playing to cover this, again I was so thankful. Benjamin even got a fellow musician to accompany him. Truly wonderful! Thank you so, so much!

RH
Robert H
2 years ago
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5 out of 5

Absolutely brilliant it made our wedding so special

BZ
Bev Z
4 years ago
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5 out of 5

Ben played alongside a pianist which he arranged at a dear friends funeral.The piece they played was absolutely perfect.The booking experience was fantastic and Ben was so flexible and helpful he really went out of his way to accommodate our needs.We can highly recommend Ben and will certainly use him again in the future should we need to.Thanks again Ben for being so wonderful.

Read all 5 reviews

From other customers:

TL
Tim D
5 years ago, for a Concert in Stone ST15
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5 out of 5

Great concert, thanks, I loved journeys don't stop believing.

JP
Justin P
5 years ago, for a Concert in Leicester
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5 out of 5

Really fun string quartet, nice people and really great sound!

Read all 5 reviews