Mats Scheidegger

Mats Scheidegger is a Professor at the Lucerne School of Music, which is part of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). He teaches guitar and chamber music at the Institute of Classical and Church Music. His career spans several decades with a focus on contemporary music performance.

Scheidegger has been deeply engaged with the interpretation of contemporary guitar music since the 1980s. His performance career as a soloist has taken him to major international festivals including Lincoln Center Festival New York, Festival D'automne à Paris, ENO London, Lucerne Festival, Wien Modern, Festspiele Berlin, and RuhrTriennale. He maintains sustainable collaborations with composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, Franck Bedrossian, Nadir Vassena, Beat Furrer, and Tiziano Manca.

His artistic work is documented through numerous premieres of works by composers like Luciano Berio, Brian Ferneyhough, Sam Hayden, Hans Ulrich Lehmann, and Nadir Vassena, as well as multiple CD recordings with labels including NMC, Harmonia Mundi, and Grammont. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on the electric guitar and live electronics in numerous concerts. From 1999 to 2011, he served as artistic director of the "Tage Für Neue Musik Zürich" festival and has designed concepts for the ensembles Soyuz21 and Cattrall Zürich.

Scheidegger's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on contemporary guitar music, with particular emphasis on new compositions, experimental techniques, and integration of electronic elements. His work bridges classical guitar traditions with avant-garde practices, showing particular interest in the intersection of acoustic instruments and electronic processing.

He has cultivated significant artistic partnerships with leading contemporary composers and has premiered numerous works that have expanded the guitar repertoire. His festival direction and ensemble work demonstrate leadership in promoting new music within the Swiss and international music scenes.

Scheidegger is actively involved with the ensembles Soyuz21 and Cattrall Zürich, for which he has designed performance concepts. These groups serve as platforms for exploring contemporary music, particularly works that combine traditional instruments with electronic elements.