Matthew Wadsworth is an English lutenist. He was born in Manchester with blindness. He attended a school for the visually impaired as a child, and at age 16 became the first blind student at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. He then studied with Nigel North at the Royal Academy of Music, where he received the London Student of the Year award in 1997 for his work on Braille lute tablature. He has appeared in festivals and concert halls in Europe and North America.

His recordings have received critical acclaim, and his solo recital CDs have been released by Channel Classics Records. He has worked with vocalists James Gilchrist and Carolyn Sampson, as well as other chamber musicians. In 2025 he presented a BBC Radio 3 documentary on braille music, ‘Joining the dots – 200 years of Braille Music’.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Wadsworth
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6791371