Matthias Pintscher sees his two main spheres of activity - composing and conducting - as entirely complementary. ‘My thinking as a conductor is informed by the process of my own writing,' he says, ‘and vice versa of course.' In his mid thirties, he may be called the most sought-after German composer of his generation. His music is being championed by artists including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Christoph von Dohnany, KentNagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Daniel Harding, Christoph Eschenbach, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Matthias Pintscher divides his time equally between the two disciplines of conducting and composing. In 2007 he took a teaching position as professor for composition at Munich Musikhochschule. Since 2007 he has served as the artistic director of the "Heidelberger atelier", with the Heidelberg Music Festival.
It was with conducting that he began his training (studying among others with Peter Eötvös) and set out on a career; composition came to the fore in his life in his twenties. Noted for his interpretations of contemporary music, he equally explores the repertoire of the late 19th and the 20th centuries, along with a rich variety of scores, which are particularly significant for their specific period in music history. He has a special affinity for the music of Bruckner, Berlioz, Ravel, Debussy, and the Second Viennese School.
As a conductor, Matthias Pintscher has appeared with among others The Cleveland Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, DSO Berlin, RSO Berlin, NDR Hamburg, MDR Leipzig, SWR Stuttgart, RSO Saarbrücken, Museumsorchester Frankfurt, RSO Wien, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Belgique and Orchestre Philharmonique de France.
He works regularly with contemporary music ensembles like Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, ensemble contrechamps, ensemble intercontemporain, Avanti (Helsinki), remix (Porto) and the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic. Engagements in the 2008/2009 season include appearances with the RAI Orchestra (Torino), RSO Stuttgart, Munich Kammerorchester, Academy Carnegie-Juilliard-Weill, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic in a special concert celebrating the 75th birthday of Claudio Abbado.
Matthias Pintscher's compositions are noted for the delicate sound-world they inhabit, the intricacy of their construction and their precision of expression. Among his most celebrated achievements are his first opera, Thomas Chatterton, commissioned by Dresden Opera, Fünf Orchesterstücke , his first Violin Concerto "en sourdine" for Frank Peter Zimmermann, which has received more than 40 performances since its premiere in 2003, his second opera l'espace dernier premiered at Paris National Opera (Bastille) in 2004, and his cello concerto for Truls Mørk Reflections on Narcissus, which was premiered in Paris in 2006 with Christophe Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris. That year also included the premier of a piece for Emmanuel Pahud (flute) and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, performed at the Lucerne Festival, where Pintscher was Artist in Residence in 2006.
His music is frequently performed by orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Hamburg, Philharmonia London, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Orchestre Philharmonique de France.
Future commissions include a piece written for Pierre Boulez as a co-commisson of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Hall, a new piece for the opening of the new concert hall in Hamburg and a new violin concerto for Julia Fischer.
Matthias Pintscher makes his home in New York, Frankfurt and Paris. He is devoted to all things French - literature, history, architecture and cuisine. He also loves Flemish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries, contemporary art and the architecture of our time. All these elements subtly influence the ‘imaginary theatre' of his unique, exquisite tonal environment.
His works are published exclusively by Bärenreiter-Verlag. Matthias Pintscher records with Kairos, EMI, Teldec, aeon, winter & winter and ECM.
