INTERVIEW
What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?Contributing to wonderful and successful concerts.
What about your work challenges you on a daily basis?Working with a new concert hall is like a trip to a foreign country. I like to come in peace and leave in peace.
What do you like most about the MCO?If you are with the MCO, you are part of the family.
What is your most memorable moment with the orchestra?Being at the stage door when the conductors and musicians come offstage after a good concert is always a special moment. Some of them are unforgettable.
What makes a “perfect” concert?Workwise: If you don’t see my work. Personally: if I feel the magic even backstage. And trust me, it happens.
BIOGRAPHY
Matthias is the MCO’s Stage Manager. As Stage Manager, he is usually the first person of the orchestra to arrive at the concert hall. He is responsible for setting up the stage, making sure that all musicians have enough space and feel comfortable while playing, as well as coordinating the logistics between the hall and the orchestra.
Matthias’ first project with the MCO was in 2014, during an Academy project with the percussionist Martin Grubinger. Before coming to the MCO, Matthias worked on a few tours with the Bundesjugendorchester. There, he experienced the strong passion for making music coming together with an energy that could easily rival a rock and roll band. While growing up, Matthias’ exposure to classical music consisted of singing around the Christmas tree and a few attempts at playing the glockenspiel. However, he listened to many blues records in his father’s bookbindery as a child, and that is when he started getting excited about music.
Matthias, who was born and grew up in Cologne, studied German Literature in Germany and France.