Matthias Koole

Born 1982 in Brussels/Belgium.

Matthias Koole is a guitarist, active in different areas of experimental music. He had a classical guitar training with Fernando Araújo and Teodomiro Goulart in Belo Horizonte/Brazil at the Escola de Música of UFMG and Fundação de Educação Artística (1997–2002). In 2002 he moved to Belgium where he continued his studies with Roland Broux at the Conservatory of Antwerp and finished his master studies with Tom Pauwels (2007) at the Conservatory of Ghent/Belgium. At the same institution he obtained an Advanced Master in Contemporary Music (ManaMa) under the tutorship of the Ensembles Spectra and Ictus.

He was a founding member of the electric guitar quartet Zwerm and maintains the classical guitar duo Oh Mensch with long-time collaborator Kobe Van Cauwenberghe. He played with different ensembles and orchestras in Belgium and abroad such as Champ d’Action, Ictus, Nadar, Cairn, Lucilin, Brussels Philharmonic, deFilharmonie etc. Some important concerts include collaborations at the Ars Musica Festival with Collectief reFLEXible, Champ D’action, Brussels Philharmonic (Brussels, 2008) and Zwerm (2012); participating with Ictus ensemble playing Fausto Romitelli’s Index of Metals in Riga and Vilnius (2009). He was also guest soloist with the orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg under the direction of Peter Rundel (2011) playing Clemens Gadenstätter’s Fluchten/Agorasonie. In these and other formations he participated in many premieres of pieces by composers such as Richard Barrett, Stefan Prins, Clinton McCallum, Larry Polansky, and Mario Del Nunzio.

As an improviser he concentrates on electric guitar having a close collaboration with Stefan Prins, Mário Del Nunzio, Collectief reFLEXible, Peter Jacquemyn, Henrique Iwao and Jean-Pierre Caron. Between 2008 and 2012 Matthias Koole was also part in the multidisciplinary open-source project CoLapseKode by the organizations Mangrove-Tentactile and Constant (Brussels).
In 2010 Matthias Koole received the scholarship »Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik« of the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt/Germany.

In August 2012, Matthias Koole moved back to Belo Horizonte/Brazil where he is currently initiating two new ensembles called SCHLAG! and Infinito Menos and is still maintaining projects in Europe including his improvisation activities, new programs with the duo Oh Mensch and a new project with recorder player Katelijne Lanneau.
Matthias Koole can be heard on different CDs including The World’s Longest Melody with music by Larry Polansky released by New World Records, Fremdkörper with music by Stefan Prins released on Sub Rosa (Brussels) and Trios& Quartetos with Mario Del Nunzio and Henrique Iwao, released by Ibrasotope.