Sweden’s Mattias Jacobsson, one of the foremost classical guitarists on the international stage, will open the Gustavus Artist Series performance season with a recital in Jussi Björling Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23.
Tickets are available through gustavustickets.com and will be on sale at the door one hour prior to the performance. Tickets are free to Gustavus students and are priced at $15 for general admission adult and $12 general admission for senior citizens, students, and Gustavus staff.
At age 26, Jacobsson makes his second appearance on the Gustavus Artist Series, after a previous performance in 2008. He has firmly established himself as an outstanding talent rising from a new generation of classical guitarists. Described by Classical Guitar Magazine, U.K., as a “future force in an ever-growing guitar world,” Jacobsson has gained widespread attention for his lyrical playing, rare tonal beauty and charismatic interpretations as well as his virtuosic command of the guitar. His performance of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, “brought tears to many eyes…and…the audience to its feet,” (Westfield Leader). Sweden’s Gitarr & Luta magazine declared, “Mattias Jacobsson has launched a flying start to his international career.”
With this performance, Jacobsson continues the tradition of outstanding Swedish guitarists who have appeared at Gustavus under the auspices of the Gustavus Artist Series. His teacher, Erik Möllerström, performed an Artist Series recital on the Björling stage in 1987. Jacobsson credits Möllerström with instilling in him a sense of both musical generosity and artistic integrity. The young Swede, who does not come from a musical background, was only nine years old when Möllerström introduced him to the classical guitar.
Born near Stockholm, Sweden, Jacobsson began studying the guitar with Möllerström at the Nacka Municipal School of Music and with Bo Hansson at Södra Latins Gymnasium. At eighteen, he moved to southern Sweden to study with Göran Söllscher and Gunnar Spjuth at the Malmö Academy of Music and, at twenty-one, he continued his studies in New York with Sharon Isbin at The Juilliard School.
For this Artist Series recital, Jacobsson will perform works by Agustin Barrios, J. S. Bach, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet. He will conclude Friday’s appearance at Gustavus with three works by the late 19th Century Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tarrega. These works are Capricho Arabe, the Prelude, “Lagrima” and Recuerdos de la Alhambra.
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