Monika Mattiesen

b. July 4, 1966
Member of the Association of Estonian Professional Musicians

Flutist and composer Monika Mattiesen has achieved recognition above all as a performer of contemporary and electroacustic music and introducer of new music by Estonian composers. She is the founder of the ensemble Cyberstudio and acts as its artistic director and member, she is also an active figure in Estonian musical life.

Mattiesen graduated from Tallinn Conservatoire in the flute class of Jaan Õun in 1991 and furthered her flute studies with Vilnis Strauti?š at the J?zeps V?tols Latvian Music Academy where she completed her Master studies in 1993. She has also improved her skills at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Since 2005, Mattiesen is completing her doctorate studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in the (multimedia) composition department. She is the winner of the competition-festival Con brio ’92 for Estonian young musicians.

As the grantee of IRCAM/Acanthes, Mattiesen has participated in electroacustic master courses in Helsinki (2000) and Metz (2004), where she performed the electroacustic work Jupiter by Philippe Manoury as the result of intense cooperation with composer. In 2003, Mattiesen worked at IRCAM studio in Paris, where she was involved in the preparation of compositions by composers-in-residence like Ivan Fedele, Kaija Saariaho and Pierre Jodlowski. She has also participated in master classes of Karlheinz Stockhausen in Kürten. Thanks to cooperation with composer, many of his electroacustic pieces have reached to Mattiesen’s repertoire.

Mattiesen has worked as the orchestral musician at the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and teached flute at Tallinn Children’s Music School and music history at International University Audentes. Since 2000, she acts as the freelance flute soloist and the artistic director and member in the ensemble Cyberstudio established by herself. Since 2005, she also works as the artistic director of Young Estonian Composers’ Festival. She is the member of the Estonian Arnold Schönberg Society since 2007.

As a flutist and chamber musician Mattiesen has performed besides Estonia also in Finland, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Greece, Colombia, USA, Russia and elsewhere. She has appeared as a soloist with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Vantaa Symphony Orchestra, Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra, Pärnu City Orchestra, Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra, XXI Century Orchestra, Kiev Symphony Orchestra and NYYD Ensemble. Her repertoire includes mainly contemporary music, she has given many premieres of new flute music specially dedicated to her by Estonian composers Tõnu Kõrvits, Mart Siimer, Toivo Tulev, Mirjam Tally, Helena Tulve, Jüri Reinvere, Timo Steiner, Märt-Matis Lill and others. She has also performed the Estonian premieres of several works by Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Stockhausen, George Crumb and others.

As a composer, Mattiesen have mainly written electroacustic music, including Mandragora which was selected to represent Estonia at the International Rostrum of Composers in Portugal in 2007. In 2008, her opera DMeeter commissioned by Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre was premiered at Kanuti Guild Hall.

In 2008, Mattiesen was awarded the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for her chamber opera DMeeter. She has recorded music for Estonian Television and several compilation CDs, she has solo CD „Manuscript” (Eesti Raadio, Monika Mattiesen, 2006) where she performs flute music by Estonian composers.

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