Choral conductor Matthew Berry is best known as the founder and director of the small choir Commotio. He is a specialist in neglected contemporary choral repertories, and the programming he has pursued with Commotio reflects that specialty. Berry attended University College, Oxford, where he studied music; he was an organ scholar -- a student who is financially supported in exchange for providing organ performances and accompaniment -- and later assistant organist. His principal organ teachers were David Sanger, David Goode, and Ian Curror. As a student, Berry conducted the Oxford Chamber Choir for two years. He then founded Commotio in 1999. Going on for postgraduate choral conducting studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he developed a specialty in the research and promotion of contemporary choral music from outside the usual mainstream traditions, often from the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, Slovenia, and the U.S. With Commotio, Berry organized the world premiere of the rare Messe de Saint-Dominique of organist-composer Rolande Falcinelli. Berry was later named as Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, an award reserved for former students of the school who have made significant contributions to the profession of music. Berry's debut recording with Commotio, in 2006, covered contemporary South African choral music. Berry leads that choir in about five performances annually and planned to take it on tour to Japan in 2020. Unlike most directors of major British choral groups, Berry is not affiliated with a university or religious institution, instead, working in sales with a music publisher. He describes himself as "a cricket-obsessive who loves red squirrels." Berry has led Commotio in multiple recordings for the Naxos label, beginning in 2010 with an album featuring two works by James Whitbourn. He directed the choir in several more recordings for Naxos, including a pair devoted to the music of prominent composer Bob Chilcott. Commotio, under Berry, has also devoted two albums to the music of Francis Pott. ~ James Manheim