About

Mattias Hållsten (b. 1997) is a Swedish composer and musican. His music explores auditory perception using different synthesis techniques and instrumentations combined with just intonation. He is currently studying shō with Ko Ishikawa.

Recent projects include performing with Catherine Christer Hennix’s Kamigaku Ensemble during the Sixth Edition Festival (2023) and at the Munch Museum in Oslo (2023), as well as various collaborations with musicians in the Stockholm improvised music scene. In 2023, Hållsten made his debut release on Stockholm-based label Thanatosis with the album Breathing, bowing, featuring works for shō and viola da gamba.

On top of his practice as a composer and musician, Hållsten is active in other areas of the music scene in Stockholm. Since 2019 he is the chairperson of music festival Sound of Stockholm, and he is since 2018 part of the production team of Norbergfestival. He is also an active member of artist run performance space Fylkingen, and writes regularly for journal Nutida Musik.

Hållsten has a master’s degree in electro-acoustic composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he studied for, among others, Henrik Frisk, Ludvig Elblaus, Gerhard Eckel, and Christofer Elgh.

Contact: mattias [at] mattiashallsten [dot] com

→ List of works

Picture of Mattias Hållsten behind a mixing desk
Photo by Tobias Nicolai. Taken during Ung Nordisk Musik 2021: (un)common ground.