Matthew Kettle began playing the violin at the age of 8 before taking up the viola aged 10. In 1996 he was accepted to study at the Birmingham Conservatoire Junior School where he studied with Grazyna Zarebska, Carol Millward and David Joyce. In 1999 Matthew reached the National Semi Finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and was awarded a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, of which he became principal viola in 2002.During his time with the NYO he worked with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and Sir Simon Rattle and was rehearsal soloist with the orchestra in preparation for Lawrence Power's performance of Berlioz's Harold in Italy with Yan Pascal Tortelier.

In 2003 Matthew was awarded the NYO's prestigious Bulgin Medal for having made the most outstanding musical contribution to the orchestra during that year. In July 2002 he performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Birmingham Conservatoire Junior School Orchestra in the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham and shortly after took up a place at Chetham's School of Music to study with Mark Knight. During his time at Chetham's he performed various concerts at venues such as Manchester Cathedral and Lincoln's Inn, London and was invited to perform for Prince Edward's 40th Birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace as a member of the Wu String Quartet, of which he is still a member. At the end of his time at Chetham's Matthew was awarded the school's major string prize (the Ida Carroll String Prize), the school's top chamber music award (the Dewhurst Torevell Award) and the Mozart prize. During the summer of 2004 Matthew performed Hoffmeister's Viola Concerto with the Halesowen Chamber Orchestra and the Telemann Concerto with BRAVURA and later returned for a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Qian Wu.

In 2004 he began studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he continued his studies with Mark Knight. During his time at the Guildhall, Matthew has been a finalist in the school's viola competition and was awarded the bronze medal in the Marlow Concerto Competition for his performance of Penderecki's Viola Concerto. Matthew has given many recitals during his time at the Guildhall including Kidderminster Music Society, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and the Elgar Hall in Worcester. Matthew has also given many concerts with the Wu Quartet including performances at Conway Hall and Lincoln's Inn, London, as well as recitals in York, Lincoln, Manchester and Aldeburgh. In 2004 the Wu Quartet performed Mozart's E flat Piano Quartet with BBC Young Generation Artist Ashley Wass and later that year were semi-finalists in the Royal Overseas League Competition. The Wu Quartet has attended various courses including Pro Corda Musical Encounters and Prussia Cove IMS where they received masterclasses from Peter Cropper. Recently they were awarded a reserve place on the prestigious Britten Pears 32nd Academy of String Quartets. From September 2008 the Wu Quartet will take over from the Navarra Quartet as String Quartet in Residence at the famous Repton School.

In 2005 Matthew became a member of the Artea String Quartet who received a place on the Tillett Foundation (which resulted in a performance at Wigmore Hall) and were awarded a place on the Britten Pears String Quartet residency in Aldeburgh. In April 2008 Matthew collaborated with Jiafeng Chen, Graham Oppenheimer and Guy Johnstone in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence in Cambridge and in March 2008 Matthew was awarded a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music for the fall September 2008. Matthew has taken part in masterclasses with Thomas Riebl, Simon Rowland Jones, Michael Tree and Garth Knox.