Guitar - Sweden

Guitarist Mattias Pérez is ranked as one of Sweden’s premier folk musicians and is a regular performer on stages all over the world. Although rooted in Swedish folk music, Mattias welcomes a challenge, and meeting other musicians and taking on projects from varying musical genres and traditions has shaped him into the musician and artist he is today.

During the last 15 years, Mattias has toured all over the world together with a wide range of traditional groups and artists, such as Sofia Karlsson (Sweden), Sigrid Moldestad Band (Norway), Harald Haugaard and Helene Blum Band (Denmark), Nano Stern (Chile), Kevin Henderson (Scotland), and his band MP3: Mattias Pérez Trio. Mattias has also performed music in theatre productions at Västanå Teater in Sunne, Sweden (Romeo and Juliet in 2004, Peer Gynt in 2006, En herrgårdssägen in 2007, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2010), as well as Din stund på jorden at Stockholm’s city theatre Stockholms stadsteater (2004-2005) and The Magic Flute with Swedish national theatre company Riksteatern and Norwegian national concert program Rikskonserterna (2005-2006). 

Mattias writes and arranges music for the various groups and singers he collaborates with, and also composes music for theatre plays, such as Sitaraha - The Stars, which is being performed by Teater Dos and Riksteatern between 2014 and 2017.

Mattias was a student at the Ingesund School of Music in Arvika, Sweden, from 1999 to 2003, where he was hired as a tutor immediately following his graduation. He is now a Senior Lecturer of traditional and world music at Ingesund and Karlstad University, with ensemble playing, guitar, and music theory as his main subjects. Furthermore, he has acted as artistic director and teacher for the world music camp Ethno, held in Rättvik, Sweden, every summer, and he was instrumental in founding the music camp Ethno-Uganda in 2009. As a session musician, Mattias has offered his musical superbness on recordings of more than 30 albums all over the world, and in 2013, his solo album East was welcomed by positive reviews. 

“…the music possesses such integrity and matter-of-factness that commenting on it would be a little bit like trying to review the forest, or a river. It’s just not possible. A forest is a forest, a river a river. A matter of fact, essential. This music occupies a space light years away from fake poses and attempts to please. A group of fantastic musicians offer us Mattias’ compositions, enhanced with improvisations and life. It is beautiful, meditative, breathing. The music exists by its own power, like the forest and the river. Pulsating music, like a warm hand on a frozen heart.” Jimmy Ginsby, Lira Musikmagasin, Sweden

Interview with Mattias Pérez

Learn about Mattias's musical background and what folk music means to Mattias.

Mattias's' courses

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