Mattias Nilsson

The internationally acclaimed and award-winning Swedish pianist Mattias Nilsson (b. 1980), has with more than two thousand concerts in 33 countries around the world established himself as one of Sweden's most personal pianists with his very own voice. Nilsson incorporates the Scandinavian folklore and Nordic Vemod, with influences from classical, folk and jazz music. Through his improvisations and a very warm and personal approach, this becomes a unique expression and a musical landscape with completely new shades of color. It´s not without reason they call him the Swede with the warm Scandinavian touch.

“...some might want to place him among the Swedish pianists that followed after Jan Johansson, but Nilsson is so much more than that.” – SALT PEANUTS (Nordic)

Mattias Nilsson was born in the South of Sweden in 1980. He started to play the piano at the age of 4 making his first public apperance at the age of 8 when accompanying the famous Swedish operetta singer Sonja Stjernquist.

As a child he was always surrounded by the music his father loved, especially jazz and classical music. At an early age Mattias was given classical piano lessons from his father, who soon found out that Mattias wanted to improvise instead of playing what was written.

Mattias went on to study the Afro-American music and tradition in different folk high schools (Härnösand, Bollnäs and Fridhem) in Sweden before starting to freelance with different groups as well as different musical styles, ranging from jazz, blues, gospel and latin, to rock and pop.

They wise decision to turn down an offer from the Malmö Academy of Music in 2004, choosing to go his own way, and learn from experience, led to the start of an intense freelance career which at this date concludes more than 1500 concerts in 32 countries around the world.

“Nilsson is more than just an extraordinarily talent…a composer and piano soloist at world-class level…a style that's very much his own: warm, sensible, empathetic and lyrical.” – LIRA (Sweden)

Nilsson’s stunning solo debut album Dreams Of Belonging released in Sweden in 2016 represents the culmination of a long journey for Nilsson, and the discovery of an individual voice, combined with a deep-seated love for the music of his homeland features eight Swedish folk songs, hymns, more modern pieces and three original Nilsson compositions, plus a ‘classic’ John Hartford cover.

The album received a lot of prasie in the Swedish and international press and was followed by an international release tour in France, Sweden and the UK. One critic wrote "...some might want to place him among the Swedish pianists that followed after Jan Johansson, but Nilsson is so much more than that." – Salt Peanuts (Norway).

Mattias has accompanied numerous international jazz stars such as Butch Miles, Sharón Clark, Jesper Thilo, Svante Thuresson and Peter Asplund to name a few.

With Afro-American jazz vocalist Sharón Clark with whom Mattias started to work with in 2014, he has toured Europe, Africa and Asia;  performing a long list of renowned festivals and clubs in Sweden (Ystad Sweden Jazz, Trollhättans Jazz & Bluesfestival, Huddinge Jazz & Blues), Denmark (Copenhagen Jazz Festival), Estonia, Latvia (Saulkrasti Jazz Festival), Croatia (Fest Jazza Koprivnica), Belgium (Gouvy Jazz & Blues Festival), Taiwan (Taichung Jazz Festival), France and South Africa.

Since 2014 Nilsson has mainly focus on his genre free solo concerts making is international debut at the Akbank Jazz Festival in Istanbul followed by the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas and the Gothenburg Piano Festival. In Sweden he has performed numerous solo concerts all over the country.

Nilsson continues the long tradition of innovative pianists from Scandinavia like Jan Johansson, Nils Lindberg and Bengt Hallberg in the 60’s and in more more recent times, Bobo Stenson, Esbjörn Svensson, Jan Lundgren and Jacob Karlzon. “[Mattias] takes us into a world of sounds that is both beautiful and challenging…He manages in a personal way to merge tradition with his own time.” – Tor De Jazz Blog (Norway)

As a pianist and composer, Nilsson incoporates the Nordic Vemod, with influences from classical, folk and jazz music. Through his improvisations and a very warm and personal approach, this becomes a unique expression and a musical landscape with completely new shades of color. It´s not for no reason they call him the Swede with the warm Scandinavian touch.

(Updated: January 2021)