Matias Vestergård
b. 1989
Danish
Summary
Matias Vestergård (b. 1989) has been called opera’s next rising star - and with good reason. Originally trained as a pianist, he turned to composition after a formative lesson with Bent Sørensen, later studying with Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow, and Simon Løffler at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He composes with a strong focus on the relationship between music and words, and has gained recognition for both his operatic and orchestral work. His opera Lisbon Floor was awarded Opera of the Year at Årets Reumert 2023, and his orchestral music has been performed by leading ensembles including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, BIT20 Ensemble, and Secession Orchestra. He was invited to contribute to Kaija Saariaho’s 70th birthday celebrations with …Through Its Darkness originally composed for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and was composer-in-residence at Festival & Friends from 2021 to 2024. From 2024 to 2026, he is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation’s career development programme Den Unge Kunstneriske Elite, and in 2020 he received the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize.
Jonas Bille, 2025
Biography
Matias Vestergård has been called opera’s next rising star - and with good reason. His first opera, TITANIC - a Murder Mystery, premiered before he had even graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
He began his musical education as a pianist under Amalie Malling, convinced he would become a classical performer. But that all changed after a single lesson with Bent Sørensen. Vestergård had been asked to write 30 seconds of music for solo clarinet. After studying the score for a moment, Sørensen slowly pointed to a bar, exactly where Vestergård had begun to feel unsure, and said, “This is where you lose me.” “It hit me like a punch in the stomach,” Vestergård recalled in an interview when he received the Sonning Talent Prize 2020. “I just knew, right then, that I had to be a composer.” He went on to study composition with Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow, and Simon Løffler at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
He composes with a strong focus on the relationship between music and words and has quickly established himself on the Danish opera scene. His opera Lisbon Floor was awarded Opera of the Year at Årets Reumert 2023, Denmark’s leading stage awards. In the same year, he was invited to compose a new version of …Through Its Darkness for Secession Orchestra and conductor Clément Mao-Takacs, as part of the celebrations for Kaija Saariaho’s 70th birthday. Vestergård collaborates closely with Danish stage director Johan Klint Sandberg, with whom he has so far created three musical dramas: Korte breve fra en lang rejse, HYPER SWITCH ULTRA FAGGOT, and Kriser 1. In addition to his work for the stage, he has written music for orchestra, ensembles, several string quartets, and sacred choral works, including Lovsynger Herren for choir, soloists, trumpet, and strings, written for the opening of the Nordic Church Music Symposium, and Hjerteblad, his third string quartet, commissioned by NOVO Quartet. He was composer-in-residence at Festival & Friends from 2021 to 2024.
From 2024 to 2026, he is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation’s career development programme Den Unge Kunstneriske Elite. He received the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize in 2020.
His works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, Avanti!, BIT20 Ensemble, Esbjerg Ensemble, DR Vokalensemblet, Ensemble Recherche, Diotima Quartet, Secession Orchestra, and Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen.
Jonas Bille, 2025