Matteo Napoli was born in Salerno and is now resident in Auckland, New Zealand. He is an honours graduate of the Giordano Conservatory, Foggia, Italy. Early in his career he captured worldwide attention winning many competitions, including first prize in the International Liszt Competition at Lucca in 1986.

He has performed in Europe, as well as in New York, Mexico City, São Paolo, Japan, Australia, China and Malaysia. As a soloist, he has appeared with a number of orchestras, including the Orchestra da Camera di Firenze, Brasov Philharmonic, Ofunam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tirana Opera House, Cyprus Chamber Orchestra, NSO of Malaysia, and, in New Zealand, the Manukau Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

In Auckland (2003) he gave the first modern performance of the Piano Concerto No. 6 by Ferdinand Ries, with Uwe Grodd as conductor, followed by the European première in Romania and a further performance with the NSO of Malaysia (2004). He is an artist teacher at the University of Auckland.