Mat Heighway

double bass - bass guitar - vocals - whistle

Mat Heighway studied double bass at the Royal Academy of Music under Robin McGee and Duncan McTier, and his playing covers a wide variety of musical styles. His classical work includes such groups as the English Symphony Orchestra, Royal Shakespeare Company, the Corelli Ensemble and Corelli Chamber Orchestra, the Bochmann Ensemble, the National Musicians Symphony Orchestra, Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Southern Festival Orchestra, EC4 Orchestra, Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra, Bergamo Ensemble, Philharmonia Orchestra (experience scheme), Albemarle Orchestra, Oxford Philomusica, Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra, Aminta Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of the Royal Borough, as well as other work in London and the South of England. Mat has also toured in France, Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Work in theatre includes both regular and "depping" work on West End musicals such as Beauty and the Beast (UK National tour), High Society (UK National Tour), The King & I (UK National Tour), Copacabana (UK National Tour), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK National Tour) and My Fair Lady (UK National Tour), as well as productions of Oklahoma, Grease!, West Side Story (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), Sweet Charity, A Chorus Line, Hello Dolly and Follies (Northampton Royal Theatre).

Other work includes theatre work with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both Stratford-upon-Avon and the West End, jazz, blues (currently with Mojo Bones) and session recording. As well as playing the double bass and bass guitar, Mat is also a classical tenor, and has sung all over the UK and parts of Europe, as well as recording for CDs, BBC Radio and Classic FM. He lives in Bicester, Oxfordshire, with his wife Emily Eastmond and a large collection of musical instruments, including double basses, bass guitars, a violin, a bassoon, a couple of keyboards, several tin whistles, numerous recorders, 2 eukeleles, a bodhrán, a modern version of a shawm, and several other instruments too weird to mention.

Mat joined Mojo Bones in December 2003. He is currently on UK national tour as the bassist for the UK production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

To find out more about Mat, please visit www.meticulous.org.uk