Matthew William Tansley Stiff, also credited as Matt Stiff, is an English opera singer and former radio presenter, best known as the former bass singer with classical boyband.
Background
The son of a British Telecom engineer, Stiff began to play the trombone at the age of eight, but later made the transition to singing, after which he attended Franklin College, then studied Music at the University of Huddersfield where he gained his Bachelor of Music (Honours) and Master of Arts in Musical Performance.
Education
As a student at Guildhall where he studied for a Postgraduate diploma in vocal training, Stiff replaced bass singer Tom Lowe to become a member of which also included final year undergraduates Jonathan Ansell, Mike Christie, and Ben Thapa, who all started singing together to raise money and gain experience.
Career
While in Huddersfield, he took singing lessons with vocal coach Paul Wade who described him as "a great pupil". In 2004 they later auditioned for the first series of The X Factor and despite placing second, signed a £1.5 million record deal with Sony-BMG. They went on to produce two more albums: and Friends and Acting Three with combined sales in excess of 1.5 million copies. In 2007, after three years and three albums, announced their split on GMTV due to disagreements within the band, with Stiff stating: "I want to make my own decisions without having to check with three other people first".
Lead singer Ansell later admitted that the two of them had rowed the most.
He has since joined a number of opera companies including the British Youth Opera where he played Kecal in The Bartered Bride to rave reviews.
Membership
In 2008, following a schedule overhaul at Classic FM, Stiff re-joined the station as a weekend presenter (he had previously hosted another show with the other members of ), after which he returned to Guildhall in 2009 for a Master of Music Opera course, graduating with a Distinction in 2011.