born in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, studied at the Musikhochschule Detmold with Renate Kretschmar-Fischer, at the Juilliard School of Music in New York with Joseph Kalichstein and received master classes from Monique Haas, Andor Foldes as well as Pál Kadosa. She has received scholarships from the German National Academic Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Jürgen Ponto Foundation. Among other grants and prizes, she won 1st prize at the Gina Bachauer Competition in New York, was a prizewinner at the Liszt/Bartók Competition in Budapest, the Jeunes Musicales in Bordeaux and the Robert Casadesus Competition in Cleveland (USA). She can be heard in numerous radio recordings, appeared on television, released an LP Piano Music in the 20th Century (with works by Béla Bartók, Helmut Lachenmann and Martin Christoph Redel) and a CD with compositions by Henri Dutilleux, Barbara Heller, Wolfgang Hochstein and Domenico Scarlatti.

She has performed solo piano recitals, chamber concerts and orchestra-accompanied piano concerts in Germany, other European countries, Japan, Korea, the USA and at international music festivals.

With her piano partner Christian Köhn, she has also performed internationally as the piano duo Matthies/Köhn since 1988. The duo has won several awards (including the ARD Competition in Munich) and has already recorded 19 CDs with four-hand duo piano literature by Brahms, Dvorák and Giselher Klebe.

Since 1992, Silke-Thora Matthies has held a professorship in piano at the local Musikhochschule. From October 2003 to September 2007 she was its rector.