Denis de Mattos is a Brazilian Violinist, Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter, Composer.
Biography and Projects
Early years in Brazil
1995 - Early Violin Studies
Denis was born in Brasília and he is from a family of musicians. He began his early studies in music as a young child while he was 6 years old, when started to learn the violin.
He was first taught by his uncle, until he was 12 and then he had studied with local teachers from the Brasília Music School (EMB - Escola de Música de Brasília).
He first performed in public at the age of 7 at the Brasília Music School (EMB) and played programs of Suzuki with piano accompaniment. He also played many times with his father who is a cellist and teacher and with his mother who is a pianist.
Previously he studied the Suzuki Method and later followed with the Barbara Barber - Solos for Young Violinists Method and also began with selected pieces of the violin repertoire. In between for technical studies he did the Kreutzer 42 Studies, Sitt Etudes, Hrymaly Scales, Ševčík double stops/exercises and Schradieck exercises.
In the 90s he played student concertos from composers like F. Seitz, Oskar Rieding, Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Antonio Vivaldi and Franz Anton Hoffmeister. He also liked to play the Vivaldi A minor Concerto and Summer first and second movement, and baroque duets for violin and cello and also Pleyel Duets. He played mostly with his father at schools, in church and at other occasions.
"My first inspirations in music and in the violin world were the recordings by Bach Sonatas and Partitas performed by Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin. Also I liked the Itzhak Perlman -Cinema Serenade, The Leila Josefowicz - Bohemian Rhapsodies and the Paganini 24 Caprices performed by Salvatore Accardo and Ilya Kaler. At that time, Heifetz was my favorite violinist as I had other recordings of him playing the Mendelssohn/Mozart 5th/Vieuxtemps 5th Violin Concertos."
"I think I felt my music passion specially while listening to those recordings I've mentioned and it was the beginning of my dream to play the violin."
Early 2000s - Development
At the of 9 he began learning the Sonatas and Partitas by Bach by himself and started to emerge himself more profoundly with his passion with music.
During the ages of 9-12, his favorite pieces to play in public were the pieces such as the Presto in G minor, The Allemande and Gigue in D minor by Bach, the La Folia by Corelli and the Perpetuum Mobile by Novácek.
His first experiences playing with the orchestra were at the age of 12 and he started to play with local orchestras and played at the EMB School, in church and at other events.
During the early 2000s he was starting to learn his first concertos such as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor and the Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 in A major.
In 2005, he participated for the first time in the The International Summer Course of the Brasília Music School (CIVEBRA-EMB) and attended masterclasses with the French Violinist Stefani Morali.
That course was a remarkable period for him because she helped him learning the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, such as the:
Sonata I in G minor, Adagio, Fugue and Presto;
Partita II in D minor such as the Allemande, Sarabande, Gigue and Chaconne;
Partita III in E major; the Preludio, Loure, and Gavotte and Rondo.
2005 - "That year was a remarkable year for me because during that course I played for the first time the Symphony No.9, The New World by Dvorak, playing the first violin. And later in 2014, who'd have known that I'd have been the Concert Master to lead the orchestra to play the same Symphony and have played the solos of this Great Classical Work, at the CIVEBRA 36th Edition."
2008-2012
Bachelor of Music - Violin Performance - University of Brasília (UnB)
When he was 18 and finished High School, he went to University of Brasília (UnB) to pursue a High Degree in Music. There he studied with the Bulgarian violinist and professor, Nadia Nedialkova who mentored him for 4 years.
During his graduation, he also participated twice in the International Music Festival of Londrina (FIML) where he had masterclasses with the Brazilian renowned violinists Daniel Guedes and Claudio Cruz. His first experience as a concert master was in 2010 at the FIML and played with the conductor Daisuke Soga.
In 2011 while he was studying at UnB he performed for the first time the Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor with the University String Orchestra of UnB. (Orquestra de Cordas da UnB).
Denis also worked temporarily 8 times in the Concert Season of 2011 at the Cláudio Santoro National Theater Symphony Orchestra (OSTNCS), and worked as first and second violin.
During this time he also played Chamber Music and played works like the Violin Sonata No.5, the Spring Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Trio No.1 in B Major by Brahms.
Teaching Experiences by 2011-12 - He also taught violin at a school a project that was a class of violin adult beginners that was taught in group classes.
When he finished his graduation in July of 2012, he moved immediately to Vienna in August 2 to pursue further studies in music.
Celtic Music
Denis was the violin soloist and member of the band Grupo Celta Sol da Meia-Noite where he played Celtic Music for 7 years and performed at the Mittellalter Bar as a residence band, and also played at celebrations, weddings, Medieval Festivals, and he also recorded and collaborated with other musicians.
"That was one of the greatest times in my life where I made people dance while playing Irish Music and I also played nostalgic Movie and Games Themes that people loved to see us play and it was a huge pleasure playing with a band."
"Some memorable hits people loved to hear us play, it was the The Old Ways, The Irish Mandala, He's a Pirate from the Pirates of The Caribbean and Time's Scar from Chrono Cross. There were also some traditional tunes such as the Pidgeon on the Gate, Lark in the Morning, Cantiga 119, The Kesh Jig, Greensleeves and many more."
Meeting Kevin Burke
While already living in Vienna in September 2012, Denis had violin lessons with the legendary Irish Fiddle Player, Kevin Burke.
"It was one of the greatest moments when I got to meet Kevin Burke, he was my greatest inspiration for Irish Music and he was so kind and respectful. We have had deep conversations about life and music that gave me direction to keep being inspired and follow through what I believe."
2012-2013 - Vienna-Austria
Wiener Prayner Konservatorium - Artist Diploma (Violin Performance)
After graduating he moved to Vienna-Austria to study violin at the Wiener Prayner Konservatorium with the Violin Professor Wolfram König, who was a pupil from George Enescu and also studied with a student from Eugene Ysaÿe. Wolfram König was the founder and artist director of the Musikalischen Sommers in Ostfriesland and wrote the book "Keys to Violin Playing".
In Austria, Denis travelled to play with local orchestras and participated in festivals such as the Brucknertage in St.Florian, and played various concerts with the Upper Austrian Youth Symphony Orchestra (Oberösterreichisches Jugendsinfonieorchester ) and he also played Cinema Music with the PLAY-Projekt Orchester Cinematics in cities like Linz, Weinberg and more.
2014- USA
The Jascha Heifetz Symposium
In 2014, During the International Summer Music Festival at the Escola de Música de Brasília, he attended masterclasses with Sherry Kloss, who is a Concert Violinist, Co-Founder of Jascha Heifetz Society and Founder-Director of the Jascha Heifetz Symposium of Individual Style. She studied with Jascha Heifetz and worked with him as his assistant and also studied with Nathan Milstein.
At the end of the Music Festival in Brasília, Denis was awarded a Full Tuition Scholarship from Sherry Kloss to participate in the Jascha Heifetz Symposium in Connecticut-USA from 22 June to July 2, at the Connecticut College in New London.
There he attended masterclasses with the Jascha Heifetz's students, Sherry Kloss, Jeanne Skrocki and Elaine Skorodin. He also had masterclasses there with the violin masters Arturo Delmoni and Joseph Silverstein.
Duo Nacional Brasilis
In 2014 Denis began a chamber music Duo with his friend pianist and composer Pedro Neme, and they named their project as Duo Nacional Brasilis.
Denis collaborated with his friend, helping him writing for violin and they played the Suite Brasiliense for violin and piano for the first time live at the Super Radio FM 89.9 and later at Sala Cássia Eller, FUNARTE, in Brasília.
They also have recorded the album of the suite and recorded for the TV Program "Músicas que Elevam" and they have played the Beethoven Violin Sonata No.8, Jascha Heifetz Transcriptions, The Suite Brasiliense and a Brazilian piece transcription by Pedro Neme.
2015-2022 - Composition and Further Studies
Exploring different paths, Self-Discovery and Creative Works
In 2015, Denis started to work on his own and focused on developing his solo studies like the major violin concertos and his creative works like songwriting, composing music for violin and piano, practicing the piano, while he also have studied in 2015 Business Administration and further Public Administration in 2016-17.
Since 2016 he has started writing also his own method for the violin where he wrote several violin technical exercises, melodies, caprices and studies that helped him overcome his own challenges at the violin practice.
In 2020 he released his first single on Spotify with the Sonata No.1 in G minor For Violin Solo: Adagio by J.S.Bach. That was a remarkable period when he decided also to study marketing and study on his own music production.
In 2022 He started to study MBA in Business Marketing while creating his own works and building his presence on social media platforms.
2022-24 - Sharing Music and growing Social Media: TikTok and YouTube
Currently he is building his online presence growing his TikTok account @denisviolin and YouTube Channel @denisdemattos and he is also Teaching Violin Privately. His first viral video was La Campanella that reached on the 2 of February of 2024 more than 955K views and that moment inspired him to record more videos and share his favorite pieces through TikTok.