Matthieu Mantanus began a career as a pianist but quickly developed a passion for conducting. Invited in 2009 by Lorin Maazel as a fellow to his Castleton Festival in Virginia, USA, Mantanus became Maazel's assistant in Italy and in Washington D.C. for productions by The Petruzzelli Theatre of Bari and has been appointed as his associate conductor for the Castleton Festival.
Matthieu Mantanus holds a deep and enthusiastic commitment to musical innovation, and for increasing the accessibility of classical music to the general public. During the 2014-15 season he went on air in prime time on the Italian national TV channel RAI 3, leading the Jeans Symphony Orchestra - which he founded himself - in presenting five short concerts. Matthieu Mantanus has also authored a number of books aimed at a broad public audience including Una giornata eroica - A Heroic Day - (Feltrinelli, 2009 - translated into Chinese and Korean), Beethoven e la ragazza con i capelli blu – Beethoven and the Blue Haired Girl - (Mondadori 2016 - translated into French under the title “Beethoven et la fille aux cheveux bleus”) and Rossini! (Feltrinelli 2018). In 2013 he founded the JeansMusicLab to bring into life the innovative musical shows he has created.
In 2020 Matthieu moved back to Switzerland after nearly 20 years abroad and founded the OpenStudio in his hometown, Aigle. In summer 2021, he programmed the first JeansMusic Festival in Apulia (Italy), presenting the crosspoint between classical and electronical creativities.
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MATTHIEU MANTANUS
Sara Caliumi is an Italian visual artist who works for national and international multimedia art events with video mapping and 3D virtual reality spaces. She has collaborated with Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Arena di Verona, La Triennale di Milano, Studio Azzurro, Ravenna Festival, Moments International, Balich Worldwide Shows, and several directors and choreographers. And particularly with the Swiss pianist, composer and conductor Matthieu Mantanus within JeansMusicLab for production such as Intimacy, BachBox or Baroque Reloaded. She teaches Interaction Design at IED in Milano and Venice. She recently has created projects for Light Festival in Saudi Arabia, Quatar, for the Asian Games in Indonesia and the Pan-American Games in Perù.
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