Mats Larsson Gothe (b. 1965) has been active as a full-time composer since 1995. He has written in most genres, with an emphasis on orchestral music, solo concerts and, in recent years, opera. Stylistically, he has taken his roots in a Stravinsky tradition, and studies in Italy have also given his music a virtuosic mobility. Emotional expressive power is fused with neoclassical features and a strong sense of pulse, giving the music a high intensity. In later works, you can see how his work with opera also influenced instrumental music, which became more singable and less dependent on modernist gestures.
In his solo concerts, Larsson Gothe has collaborated with soloists such as Christian Lindberg, Torleif Thedéen, Cecilia Zilliacus, the percussion ensemble Kroumata and others. Another important interpreter of his music is the alto Anna Larsson. Orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra have performed his music and taken it on tour in Europe. During 2014–2015, Larsson Gothe was composer-in-residence at Västerås Sinfonietta, with whom he also recorded the album "Mats Larsson Gothe - Orchestral Works", which was awarded a Grammy. The album also features the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. In April 2016, his music was the focus of Stockholm's Konserthus Tonsättarweekend, where a number of his works, including orchestral music as well as opera and chamber music, were performed.
Larsson Gothe had his breakthrough as an opera composer during his time as composer-in-residence at Norrlandsoperan (2009-2012) withPoet and Prophetess, a collaboration with the South African Cape Town Opera. Next came the award-winningBlanche and Marie(based on PO Enquist's book), which was also nominated for the International Opera Awards 2015. His latest operaThe promise, to a libretto by Susanne Marko, takes place shortly after the end of World War II and is based on a true story. It premiered at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm in 2022 on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and was staged again in 2024. The opera was awarded the Music Publishers' Prize 2022. The next opera is a commission from Wermland Opera and is about Selma Lagerlöf.
Larsson Gothe, a native of Värmland, has also previously worked with Selma Lagerlöf when he was commissioned to compose new music for the silent film classic The Körkarlen, which premiered live together with the film during the Gothenburg Film Festival 2017.
Recent works include a fourth symphony for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and a cello concerto for Torleif Thedéen and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm.
Mats Larsson Gothe studied at the music teacher training at Ingesund's Academy of Music, and continued with composition studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm with Sven-David Sandström, Daniel Börtz and Pär Lindgren. He further studied with Kalevi Aho at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He has been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including the Lilla Christ Johnson Prize (2003), the Bo Wallner Prize (2009), Svenska Dagbladet's Opera Prize (2015), the Swedish Music Publishers' Prize (2015 and 2022) and the Rosenberg Prize (2024).
