About

Mattias Schulstad is a Swedish classical guitarist, whose playing is described by Gramophone magazine as “refined, intelligent and highly musical.”

He has made recordings, performed as soloist with orchestra, and developed the guitar’s repertoire.

On August 4, 2023, Mattias Schulstad released his second full-length album, The Guitar Player. The album is named after Vermeer’s eponymous painting from 1672, and connects beloved works for the classical guitar with traditional Swedish songs in new arrangements for the guitar.

In its review, AllMusic writes: “Schulstad’s playing has a quiet refinement throughout, and the listener willing to enter into a contemplative frame of mind will reap big rewards here.”

The Guitar Player is chosen by Classic FM as Album of the Week, and has streamed more than 0.5M times to date. Of the album’s eighteen tracks, twelve tracks have seen editorial picks by Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Spotify, Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, NPO Radio 4, Sveriges Radio P2, and more.

The album’s final track, Bach’s prelude BWV 999, features, according to Pulitzer-winner Tim Page, “immaculate and sensitive playing that takes a listener to the heart of Bach’s music.”

BBC Radio 3 stated: “Mattias calls it ‘premium grade Bach.’ And he says he hopes to present it as a piece of music, not just an exercise. And we think you succeeded.”

Mattias Schulstad’s full-length recording debut Invocación introduced the notion in recent history that Frédéric Chopin influenced the guitar as we know it today.

The recording explores Chopin’s influence on the modern classical guitar’s central figure, Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega, and features music by both composers side by side—presenting Chopin in an intimate light, and Tárrega in his most Chopinesque works. The recording also features Tárrega’s legacy, through his pupils Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet.

Invocación is named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, which calls it “an outstanding debut,” and is described by MusicWeb International as “a scoop.” It’s chosen as Album of the Week by Classic FM (U.K.) and WQXR (New York), and heard on editorial playlists on Spotify. 

Mattias Schulstad’s recording of “Come, Heavy Sleep,” from Britten’s Nocturnal after John Dowland, was made for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His performance was chosen for The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, where it complements the essay “The Spanish Guitar,” which spans the 14th to 21st century.

His filmed live performance of Concierto de Aranjuez, with conductor André de Ridder and the Malmö Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, was featured by the work’s publisher Schott Music in the essay “Berühmte Gitarren-Werke,” on significant works for the guitar.

He has performed Concierto de Aranjuez with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Dalasinfoniettan, and with Copenhagen Classic (principals from Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Danish Opera).

Mattias Schulstad has given the North American and Nordic premieres of Mexican composer Enrico Chapela Barba’s Melate Binario, for solo guitar. He has premiered two concertos, by Jakub Ciupiński and Ryan Anthony Francis, to date.

He has performed in his native Sweden at The Royal Palace in Stockholm, Giresta kyrka, and toured under the auspices of Musik i Syd, Kultur i Väst, Musik i Dalarna and Musik i Uppland, including the festivals Musik vid Siljan and Uppsala International Guitar Festival, broadcast on Sveriges Radio’s P2 Live.

He has volunteered performances at institutions ranging from New York’s Mount Sinai hospital to Madrid’s Soto de Real prison, and performed at the residence of the United States’ ambassador to Sweden.

Mattias Schulstad is heard on playlists such as Guitar Chill and Classical Music for Love by Apple Music, and Soft Instrumental and Classical Wedding by Spotify, as well as on radio stations such as Classic FM (U.K.), YLE (Finland) and WQXR (New York).

His performances for Televisión Española were broadcast throughout the 2009 Francisco Tárrega Centennial Memorial, and his 2007 performance at the Aspen Music Festival was broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Mattias Schulstad was born near Stockholm, Sweden and began playing the guitar with Erik Möllerström in the Nacka Municipal School of Music. He attended Södra Latins gymnasium, under the guidance of Bo Hansson, followed by studies at Lund University (Malmö Academy of Music), with prof. Göran Söllscher, and in New York at the Juilliard School.

He plays strings by Albert Augustine, on “Erik,” the 1971 cedar top Ignacio Fleta e hijos guitar, No. 577, and uses amplification by Stephan Schlemper, enabled by generous support from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation. 

(August, 2024)