Matias  Vestergård

Matias Vestergård

(1989-)

Matias Vestergård is a rarity on the new music scene – a composer fluent yet flexible, captivating yet discerning. Before he even graduated from the Academy, he had written a fresh-faced comic opera that draws on styles ranging from polyphony to cabaret, while creating probing small-scale works that explore some of the very basics of sound. In between, his chamber and vocal works show invention and inspiration in equal measure while revealing a meticulous musical brain. 

Matias studied composition with Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow and Simon Løffler at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he also received instruction from Thomas Adès and originally enrolled as an undergraduate pianist under the tutorship of Amalie Malling. He has written for the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, the Esbjerg Ensemble, FIGURA Ensemble, Ensemble Recherche, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Danish Theatre, for which he wrote the ballet De Glemte Børn (‘The Forgotten Children’) in 2017. 

The theatrical instinct underpinning the opera Titanic – A Murder Mystery Opera, written for the Royal Danish Academy of Music, is apparent in many more works from the same source. Matias’s Six Elegies for ensemble (2016) is a tensile, moving work in which ear-tweaking colours underpin a profound overarching dramaturgy. Three Idylls (2017), written for the Esbjerg Ensemble, combines refined counterpoint with a natural communicative impulse.  

Matias’s works can be inspired by elements as varied as photography, plainchant and poetry, however strong their own form and purpose. His response to text is acute and probing but can be playful too, as heard in the three chiseled miniatures that make up Tre Kalendersange (2018), premiered by the Danish National Vocal Ensemble and its chief conductor Marcus Creed and the To Løppenthin Sange (2019), the latter extending a long tradition of irony in Danish music. 

In 2023 Matias Vestergård received the prestigious Reumert award in the category 'Opera of the year' for his opera Lisbon Floor (2021). is the recipient of grants from The Augustinus Foundation and the Odd Fellow Lodge, is the winner of FIGURA Ensemble and Edition Borup-Jørgensen’s Workshop Prize and the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize 2020, and Matias has twice been selected as the Danish representative of UNM and in 2022 an album of his works was released by Dacapo Records. 

Available Works

All categories 2-6 Instruments 7+ Instruments Choir Orchestra Music Drama and Stage Music

  1. LOVSYNGER HERREN

    2024 • Matias Vestergård

    Choir

    18 minutes

    Cantata for choir, children's choir, tenor soloist, trumpet, organ and strings

  2. KRISER

    2023 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    25 minutes

    Song cycle for soprano, vocal trio, trombone, four violins & piano

  3. COLLAPSE AND COLLAPSE

    2020 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    13 minutes

    A.fl, cl(bcl), ob(eh), perc, pno, vln, vla, vlc

  4. Lisbon Floor

    2021 • Matias Vestergård, Lea Marie Løppenthin

    Music Drama and Stage Music

    180 minutes

    2 fl, ob, cl, sax, 2 trb, cemb., pno, perc, 2 vl, vla, vlc, cb.

  5. KORTE BREVE FRA EN LANG REJSE

    2022 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    50 minutes

    3.0.1.0/0.0.3.0/perc/pno/hpd or acc/0.0.4.0.0 + singer, actor & (male) choir

  6. IMMACULATE HEART

    2022 • Matias Vestergård

    2-6 Instruments

    11 minutes

    Harp, alto flute, basset clarinet and flugelhorn

  7. OBSTACLE

    2019 • Matias Vestergård

    2-6 Instruments

    12 minutes

    Cello and piano

  8. DUINESER REQUIEM

    2020 • Matias Vestergård, Rainer Maria Rilke

    Choir

    15 minutes

    SATB choir a capella with soloists (S, Ms, A, T, Bar.)

  9. Bygninger

    2021 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    16 minutes

    Tenor, choir and baroque ensemble

  10. ...Through its Darkness (for small orchestra)

    2020 • Matias Vestergård

    Orchestra

    11 minutes

    1.1.2.1.1/2.1.1.0/2perc/pno(clst)/hrp/6.6.6.4.4

  11. Three Idylls

    2017 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    13:20 minutes

    1.1.1.1/1.0.0.0/perc/1.1.1.1.0

  12. ...Through its Darkness

    2019 • Matias Vestergård

    Orchestra

    11 minutes

    3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp/3perc/pno(clsta)/hrp/14.12.10.8.6

  13. TRÆK

    2019 • Matias Vestergård

    2-6 Instruments

    9 minutes

    String quartet

  14. Francesca Nocturnes

    2019 • Matias Vestergård

    2-6 Instruments

    7:45 minutes

    Alto flute, english horn, violin, viola & cello

  15. Six Elegies

    2019 • Matias Vestergård

    7+ Instruments

    12:30 minutes

    1[altfl].1[ca].1.1/1.0.0.0/perc/1.1.1.1.0




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News

  1. Danish music in Bergen

    general

    Danish music in Bergen

  2. World Premiere: Chorale cantata by Matias Vestergård

    general

    World Premiere: Chorale cantata by Matias Vestergård

  3. KUNSTPAUSER - Podcast

    releases

    KUNSTPAUSER - Podcast

  1. KUNSTPAUSER - Podcast

    general

    KUNSTPAUSER - Podcast

  2. Matias Vestergård at Festival & Friends

    general

    Matias Vestergård at Festival & Friends

  3. SPOT FLUX coming up

    general

    SPOT FLUX coming up

  4. Morten Ladehoff World Premiere

    general

    Morten Ladehoff World Premiere

  5. KUNSTPAUSER

    general

    KUNSTPAUSER

  6. SPOT FLUX: New orchestral music at SPOT 2024

    general

    SPOT FLUX: New orchestral music at SPOT 2024

  7. Matias Vestergård World Premiere by Royal Danish Orchestra

    general

    Matias Vestergård World Premiere by Royal Danish Orchestra

  8. Several premieres and performances by Matias Vestergård

    general

    Several premieres and performances by Matias Vestergård

  9. LISBON FLOOR wins Reumert Award

    nominations / awards

    LISBON FLOOR wins Reumert Award

  10. Work Grants from the Danish Arts Foundation 2023

    nominations / awards

    Work Grants from the Danish Arts Foundation 2023

  11. Reumert nominations for Matias Vestergård and Niels Rønsholdt

    nominations / awards

    Reumert nominations for Matias Vestergård and Niels Rønsholdt

  12. Dramatic monologue with music by Matias Vestergård

    general

    Dramatic monologue with music by Matias Vestergård

  13. Matias Vestergård: Lisbon Floor

    general

    Matias Vestergård: Lisbon Floor

  14. Matias Vestergård world premiere

    general

    Matias Vestergård world premiere

  15. Matias Vestergård: KORTE BREVE FRA EN LANG REJSE

    general

    Matias Vestergård: KORTE BREVE FRA EN LANG REJSE

  16. Matias Vestergård Debut

    interviews

    Matias Vestergård Debut

  17. World premiere · Matias Vestergård Hansen

    general

    World premiere · Matias Vestergård Hansen

  18. Digital Concert Series

    general

    Digital Concert Series

  19. Matias Vestergård Hansen receives the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize

    general

    Matias Vestergård Hansen receives the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize

  20. PULSAR 2020 · Xavier Bonfill · Matias Vestergård Hansen

    general

    PULSAR 2020 · Xavier Bonfill · Matias Vestergård Hansen

  21. Mette Nielsen and Matias Vestergård Hansen in KLASSISK music magazine

    general

    Mette Nielsen and Matias Vestergård Hansen in KLASSISK music magazine

  22. Matias Vestergård Hansen works published by Edition·S

    general

    Matias Vestergård Hansen works published by Edition·S

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