Heike Matthiesen
Biography Heike Matthiesen
Heike Matthiesen
Charismatic stage presence united with an overwhelming joy of playing: Heike Matthiesen is an unparalleled exception in today’s guitar world with intelligent programs which always fascinate her audience. The press writes about her, using superlatives like: „Guitar music to bow down to“, “World Class”, “Wonderful”. In 2016, her CD „Guitar Ladies“ was released with works exclusively featuring female composers. Several world premier recordings on the CD also included pieces dedicated to Heike Matthiesen.
Among the special artistic highlights of the last few years were appearances in the Gewandhaus Leipzig and as part of the Salzburg Festival. Concerts as a soloist and chamber musician found Heike Matthiesen appearing throughout the whole of Europe as well as in countries like China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Japan, Equatorial Guinea and the USA. Repeatedly, she has been a featured guest in worldwide guitar festivals.
Heike Matthiesen’s artistic development has been unique in the classical music scene: As the eldest daughter in an opera family, she changed from the piano to the guitar when she was 18. After only one year, she began her studies at the Frankfurt College of Music and Dramatic Arts. Two years later she began to play with the Frankfurt Opera’s orchestra, during which time she developed into a sought-after chamber musician. She is particularly proud of her long-standing association with the Villa Musica Mainz. After receiving her diploma, she became a master-class pupil of Pepe Romero. It was he who enabled her to become a world class soloist.
During 20 years of continuous collaboration with the Villa Musica Mainz and with numerous members of the Frankfurt Oper- und Museumsorchester, she has amassed a tremendous repertoire of chamber music. She has concertized with Villa Musica teachers and scholarships recipients in Germany and abroad. She has appeared with flute, oboe, piano and violin partners, with string quartets, and with flute and viola in the ensemble Trio Serenade.
Heike Matthiesen is featured in 3 chamber music productions on CD: Guitar duo with Chen Zhezao, guitar quartet with the Spanish Art Guitar Quartet, and a portrait of the composer André Volkonsky with the Frankfurt Oper- und Museumsorchester.
The 4 CDs which she has released highlight the scope of her musical range. The in-depth study she invested in researching her last CD „Guitar Ladies“, led Heike Matthiesen to become increasingly involved, in an honorary capacity, in the Woman and Music Archive in Frankfurt: the largest collection of works of female composers in the world. Currently, she is preparing a new recording exclusively with works by female composers, this time with the renowned label ARS Productions.
This remarkable musician represents the new breed of artist: communicative, multi-lingual, and internet-affine (her YouTube videos have more than 2,000,000 clicks). She’s active and engages with her devoted audience on social media channels such like Facebook and Instagram. Thus creates for herself an additional platform to continue to act as an Ambassador for Classical Music and the Guitar.
