Biography

Matteo Cesari is an internationally active flutist, conductor, educator, and performer–researcher whose work unfolds at the intersection of contemporary creation, artistic research, technological experimentation, and transmission. Recognised for the expressive precision of his playing and his close engagement with composers, he has developed an artistic practice in which interpretation functions simultaneously as performance, research, collaboration, and invention. Holding a Doctorate in Music: Research and Practice from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and Université Paris IV – Sorbonne, he approaches artistic interpretation itself as a form of inquiry, exploring performer–composer relationships, temporal perception, rewriting processes, and technological mediation in performance.

His activity has led to performances in major concert halls and festivals worldwide, including the Philharmonie de Paris, Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Musikverein (Vienna), Barbican Centre (London), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Mozarteum Salzburg, Toppan Hall (Tokyo), Festival d’Automne, Milano Musica, and IRCAM’s Festival ManiFeste. As concerto soloist, his repertoire includes Pierre Boulez’s …explosante-fixe…, György Ligeti’s Doppelkonzert, Salvatore Sciarrino’s Libro Notturno delle voci, and André Jolivet’s Flute Concerto, performed with ensembles and orchestras including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Le Balcon, the BBC Scottish Orchestra, and the Janáček Philharmonic under conductors such as Matthias Pintscher, Maxime Pascal, Alejo Pérez, and Ilan Volkov. Forthcoming engagements include an appearance at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 28 April 2027 in the Homage to Maurizio Pollini concert presented by the 36th Festival Milano Musica.

Alongside his solo activity, Matteo Cesari maintains an extensive chamber music practice across contemporary and twentieth-century repertoire. In recital and chamber music, he has performed with pianists Cédric Tiberghien, Arielle Beck and Anton Gerzenberg, cellist Alexis Descharmes and baritone Stéphane Degout. His wider performance collaborations also include Barbara Hannigan, Anneleen Lenaerts, Émilie Gastaud and the Quatuor Prometeo. Permanent member of Ensemble Multilatérale since 2015 and frequent guest with ensembles including Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Contrechamps, Court-Circuit, and Sillages, he has contributed to more than thirty premieres and developed long-term artistic collaborations with composers including Salvatore Sciarrino, Alberto Posadas, Georges Aperghis, Brian Ferneyhough, Pierluigi Billone, Philippe Manoury, Kaija Saariaho, Stefano Gervasoni, and many others.

Particularly significant is his longstanding collaboration with Salvatore Sciarrino, spanning premieres, recordings, and the extensive rewriting process of L’Opera per flauto, vol. 3, in which Matteo Cesari became a central artistic interlocutor. A similarly sustained collaboration characterises his work with Alberto Posadas through the development of an ongoing solo cycle spanning piccolo to bass flute, exploring new instrumental identities across the flute family.

His recent projects increasingly investigate new artistic territories around amplified contrabass flute, electronics, performer-controlled technologies, and experimental modes of listening, exploring questions of spatialisation, sound transformation, and technological mediation in performance. This research-oriented approach extends through collaborations with institutions including IRCAM and SWR Experimentalstudio, as well as through artistic research projects dedicated to rewriting processes, interpretation as embodied knowledge, and evolving relationships between performers, composers, and technology. In 2026, he undertook a visiting-artist residency at CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technologies), University of California, Berkeley, working with Simone Conforti on flute, electronics, and performance practice. The residency included a concert at Wu Performance Hall on 4 September 2026.

His discography comprises around twenty recordings for labels including Kairos, Wergo, Alpha, and Stradivarius. Among them, Salvatore Sciarrino: Works for Flute (Kairos) received a nomination for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Earlier distinctions include the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at Darmstadt and First Prize at the International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Kraków.

Alongside his international performance activity, Matteo Cesari teaches at IRCAM / Pôle Sup’93 and is regularly invited to coach at major academies including Lucerne Festival Academy, Festival ManiFeste, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, ARCO Academy, and Mixtur Festival. His pedagogical work combines analytical rigour, experimentation, and critical listening, seeking to foster artistic autonomy and interpretative responsibility in younger generations of performers.

More recently, his activity has expanded into conducting and artistic leadership, extending longstanding interests in collaborative creation, collective listening, and interdisciplinary artistic practices. His conducting debut took place at Festival ManiFeste (IRCAM), where he directed the Ulysses Ensemble in world premieres by Carmen Fizzarotti, Sara Glojnarić, Marco Momi, and Alberto Posadas.

Through these interconnected activities — performer, researcher, educator, conductor, collaborator, and creator — Matteo Cesari develops an artistic practice in which interpretation becomes a continual process of exploration, transmission, and renewal.