Matthew Barclay’s movement direction and choreography has been seen in work for Opera Australia, NIDA, Sydney Opera House Trust, Kaohsiung International Spring Arts Festival, State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera, Hennessy Concert Series, Pittsburgh Opera, Opéra de Montréal, NSO Taiwan and elsewhere.

He is movement director, choreographer and stage director of iSING! International Young Artists Festival in China, working with artistic director Hao Jiang Tian on opera production and singer-training in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.

For Opera Australia, Matthew’s 2021 choreography of Carmen toured regional Australia to strong reviews “Opera Australia has hit the jackpot” Australian Arts Review; “Barclay’s choreography swirls and ignites just about every surface” Limelight Magazine. In 2019 he was movement director of The Ghost Sonata directed by Greg Eldridge in the company’s Surry Hills scenery workshop.

His interest in dance started as juvenile singer in the first Australian production of the musical Evita, directed by Harold Prince.  After a few impromptu tap lessons by Kevan Johnston in the wings, he enrolled at the Victorian College of the Arts at age eleven to train in classical ballet.  He went on to graduate from the Australian Ballet School, Melbourne and started his working life as a performer, teacher and choreographer in music theatre.

His opera ‘initiation’ came as a dancer in Joan Sutherland's farewell performances of The Merry Widow at the Sydney Opera House.  He was a cast member of the first Australian tour of Cats, and appeared in operas Samson et Delilah, Iolanthe and Faust with the former Victorian State Opera.  Joining the dance ensemble at The Australian Opera, Matthew performed in Fiddler on the Roof, Hansel and Gretel, Adriana Lecouvreur, Macbeth, Romeo et Juliette and Alcina.

He choreographed S'wonderful for Sydney Opera House Trust starring Judi Connelli and Simon Gallagher, and semi-staged musicals Into the Woods at the Victorian Arts Centre and Mack and Mabel at Sydney's Theatre Royal featuring some of Australia's leading celebrity performers, followed by choreography for NIDA’s production of The Villain of Flowers for Jim Sharman's New Australian Musical Foundation.  As a result, Sharman invited him to create choreography for the National Opera Workshop production of The Eighth Wonder, an original Australian opera-in-development composed by Alan John.

Matthew was movement director of Moffatt Oxenbould’s acclaimed production of Madama Butterfly, seen by audiences across Australia and touring to China, Taiwan, Pittsburgh and Montreal.  He has collaborated with Oxenbould on a number of productions as movement director - La clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo, Die Zauberflöte, Simon Boccanegra and La bohème.  His association with Francisco Negrin took him to Los Angeles as choreographer of Giulio Cesare, staging Gregory Nash’s movement at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion for LA Opera.

Matthew was Dance Supervisor at Opera Australia from 1997 - 2019, working as a movement director or choreographer on productions both new and in revival.  He has over thirty credits in this role, including original choreography for Elijah Moshinsky’s celebrated production of La traviata.  He regularly revived choreography for large-scale, popular productions such as the Royal Opera House production of Carmen in Australia and in Taiwan, and Julie Taymor's original Metropolitan Opera production of The Magic Flute in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Other highlights include revival choreography of Royal Opera House / Opera Australia co-productions - King Roger, Die Meistersingers von Nüremburg and Il Viaggio a Reims. He consulted in casting for directors and choreographers and advised on requirements for dance and physical performance.

For Kaohsiung International Spring Arts Festival he has choreographed new productions of La bohème and Carmen.

As a movement director for opera singers, he provides high-performance coaching and workshops in role development, stagecraft, acting and movement. He has coached artists for Sydney Conservatorium, Victorian College of the Arts, Opera Australia Young Artist's Program, iSING! International Young Artists Festival, Pacific Opera and independently.