Cliff recently conducted and arranged the Lush Classical show for the Belsonic Festival in Belfast. Performed by the Ulster Orchestra along with world class vocals from Jolene O’Hara, Dylan Reid, Lucy Kane and Maria Nayler – the show also featured incredible sax playing by Lovley Laura. See you again next year!
Cliff works as an orchestrator and arranger across many genres, with artists including Josh Groban, Disney, Tom Walker, Emeli Sandé, Kylie Minogue, Little Mix, Rick Astley and Il Divo. Have a listen to a selection of string and orchestral arrangements he has written here..
Cliff recently arranged and conducted the BBC piano room performance for the fantastic Anastacia. Despite having a series of flights cancelled and losing her luggage, Anastacia still managed to pull an incredible performance out of the bag!
Cliff has recently been back in the studio with the brilliant Ella Henderson. He arranged and produced the acoustic version of Ella’s song, “0800 Heaven”.
The 80s Classical line up for 2022 featured some brand new artists including Kim Wilde and Belinda Carlisle. The annual show brings together the original 80s artists, singing their biggest hits with a full 60 piece symphony orchestra. Cliff once again scored and conducted the show bringing his trademark, symphonic writing to some of the […]
Cliff recently conducted all of the orchestral sessions for the upcoming Josh Groban album, ‘Harmony’. Produced by the brilliant Bernie Herms, the album also features Cliff’s arrangement of ‘Both Sides Now‘, a legendary song that Cliff was delighted to score for the release. Available now!
Cliff was delighted to be asked to arrange and musically direct the performance of “For Those Who Can’t Be Here” for Tom Walker, featuring The Duchess of Cambridge. Filmed at Westminster Abbey in Dec 2021, Tom was joined on stage by The Duchess for her first, public piano performance surrounded by candles and a string […]
Marisha’s debut album is available for pre-order now! ‘Tomorrow’ features a host of incredible songs from the world of musical theatre and pop, crafted into beautiful new versions by producer Steve Anderson. The album was recorded through lockdown and then Cliff’s arrangements were added by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at AIR Studios. An absolutely joy […]
This year’s BBC Unsung Hero campaign has been launched with a new version of Rick Astley’s uplifting anthem, “Every One Of Us”. Each year as part of the Sports Personality of the Year event, the BBC look for people giving above and beyond in their communities through sport and to celebrate this year’s event Cliff […]
Cliff recently teamed up with long term collaborator Steve Anderson to work on the new Luke Evans album “At Last”, arranging a number of titles for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Luke has appeared in huge Hollywood blockbusters such as “The Fast and The Furious”, “The Girl On The Train”, “The Hobbit”, “3 Musketeers” and “Beauty […]
Cliff has been working on a number of tracks with the brilliant Tom Walker over the last 18 months. Tom’s debut album, “What A Time To Be Alive” has just been released to rave reviews and features a number of Cliff’s string and choir arrangements..
Steps star Claire Richards is stepping out on her own with the release of her debut solo album “My Wildest Dreams” on 2nd November 2018. Recorded at Angel Studios earlier in the year, the new album by Claire Richards features a number of string arrangements by Cliff – including this one on her latest single, […]
Cliff and Steve have been busy throughout the summer working on Kylie Christmas! Recorded at Angel Studios and Sarm Music Village, the album features 13 tracks including several duets and a mix of original and classic songs. Kylie has enlisted the help of her sister Dannii Minogue for the deluxe version of the album, recording […]
Cliff was recently at Angel Studios recording an exclusive performance of Tom Walker’s current single “Leave A Light On”. This live, ‘in the round’ acoustic performance, produced and arranged by Cliff features string quartet, piano, guitar and Tom’s soaring vocals.
Cliff recently worked on the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards as Musical Director and Composer. Featuring live performances by Paloma Faith, Freya Ridings, George Ezra and The Lightning Seeds – as well as original music by Cliff, the show was broadcast to 10 million people from the Birmingham Genting Arena.
Emeli Sandé’s new album “Long Live The Angels” features a number of new string arrangements written by Cliff. The orchestra was recorded at Angel Studios over the summer of 2016. The albums first track, “Hurts” is available online now.
Cliff teamed up once again with Steve Anderson to produce their 3rd studio album for Susan Boyle. The album, “Wonderful World” features duets with Michael Bolton and Nat King Cole… And perhaps most unexpectedly, a cover of Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”.
Harriet’s eponymously titled debut album is out now. A firm favourite on Radio 2, the album features Cliff’s arrangements played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Cliff and Harriet also wrote the song “Empty Shoes” together which appears on the album.
Cliff teamed up once again with Steve Anderson to produce Ella Henderson’s cover of the classic Kate Bush song “This Woman’s Work”. The song was recorded in one take, live at Angel Studios with strings and Cliff playing piano – and is featured on the 2016 album “Sounds of the 80’s – volume 2”.
Cliff was recently in the studio recording strings for the new Little Mix album on tracks including “Secret Love Song” – a duet with Jason Derulo. Recorded at London’s Angel Studios, featuring a 24 piece string section the band’s 3rd album “Get Weird” was released on the 6th November.
Cliff had the privilege of being commissioned to compose an album of uplifting, sporting anthems for Beds and Beats over the summer of 2015. The album was recorded at Angel Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, annd then mixed at the legendary Capitol Studios, Hollywood. The compositions are a hybrid of orchestral elements, fused with […]
Cliff has been working on strings for Fleur East’s debut album. You can her Fleur’s version of “Girl On Fire” in the new Virgin Media advert.
Cliff has just finished arranging and conducting a project with German superstar Helene Fischer at Abbey Road Studios, London. The Christmas album entitled “Weihnachten” features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Cliff had a busy week working on the all four possible winners singles for The Voice UK TV Show. He arranged the strings and choirs for all four versions as well as arranging and producing the version of the song recorded by Lucy O’Byrne.
Cliff has recently been in the studio with Markus Feehily and producers Mo Jam and Steve Anderson, working on titles for his forthcoming solo project. Working at Angel Studios he arranged and conducted strings and gospel choir on a number of tracks… Here is the first released from the album – “Love Is A Drug”
Cliff was recently interviewed by “Don’t Stop The Pop” about various aspects of his career… You can find the interview here : Don’t Stop The Pop Interview Part 1 Don’t Stop The Pop Interview Part 2
England Rugby has released its official single for 2015, a new recording of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot from Brit Award winning singer, Ella Eyre featuring strings and choir arranged by Cliff. The contemporary version of the fans’ favourite song is being released on iTunes and Spotify with a donation made to England Rugby All Schools […]
Cliff arranged strings and choir on several tracks for Ella’s first album. Produced by a host of top drawer producers, the album “Chapter One” was released in October 2014.
Emeli Sandé’s string heavy debut single “Heaven” was arranged by Cliff, as was the second single, “Daddy“. Emeli has become a household name in the UK since bursting onto the music scene in 2011 with her debut album “Our Version Of Events“. The album broke the Beatles’ record of the spending the most consecutive weeks […]
To celebrate 25 years in the music business, Kylie Minogue released the “The Abbey Road Sessions” album. The album features new arrangements of many of Kylie’s hit records – set in a more acoustic, orchestral style. It was recorded at London’s famous Abbey Road Studios in late 2011, and produced by Steve Anderson and Colin […]
Ella Henderson’s Radio 1 Live Lounge performance featured her current single, “Glow” and a cover of A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera’s “Say Something”. Recorded live at the BBC, both songs included brand new string arrangements by Cliff. Here’s the Live Lounge performance of “Say Something”
Cliff has worked on a number of projects with Little Mix, from their first appearance on the X Factor, through to album tracks and a Radio 1 Live Lounge performance. He arranged this acoustic version of DNA And teamed up once again with Steve Anderson to arrange this down tempo version of the Mumford and […]
Cliff has worked with Labrinth on a number of projects including his debut album, “Electronic Earth“, which features the hit duet “Beneath Your Beautiful” with Emile Sandé. The song was a huge radio record thoughout 2012 and continues to be used as an instrumental for numerous TV shows. Cliff also arranged a version of Labrinth’s […]
Cliff recently teamed up again with the lovely chaps at Wise Buddah to record the new Radio 2 Christmas Idents.
Cliff recently returned from conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague. Beds and Beats, a London based music production company, asked Cliff to musically direct the recordings of two of their latest symphonic album releases featuring work by Dave Bethell, Dick Walter, Roger Dexter and Lukas Ledzki.
Cliff was recently in the studio with producer James Lewis recording strings for Heather Peace’s new album, “The Thin Line”. “We Can Change” is the first single to be taken from the album featuring Cliff’s string arrangement.
Cliff was thrilled to be able to contribute a number of string arrangements to Michael McDonald‘s “Motown” album. The album, produced by Simon Climmie, features 13 classic tracks from the Motown era.
Bond have been described as the best selling string quartet of all time, selling over 4 millions records. Their 2011 album, “Play“, produced by Cliff Masterson, Graham Stack and Magnus Fiennes features a number of Cliff’s new arrangements. Songs on the album include their first single “Diablo“. The string quartet also showcases “Jai Ho“, a […]
Back in 2012 Cliff worked with Australian singer / songwriter Clare Reynolds. Clare’s songs have featured on a number of TV shows including “Private Practice”. Her album “Colour My Heart” featured a number of string arrangements by Cliff.