Biography and Projects

 

Early years in Brazil

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1995 - Early Violin Studies

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Denis was born in Brasília and he is from a family of musicians. He began his early studies in music as a young child while he was 6 years old, when started to learn the violin.

 

He was first taught by his uncle, until he was 12 and then he had studied with local teachers from the Brasília Music School (EMB - Escola de Música de Brasília). 

 

He first performed in public at the age of 7 at the Brasília Music School (EMB) and played programs of Suzuki with piano accompaniment. He also played many times with his father who is a cellist and teacher and with his mother who is a pianist. 

 

Previously he studied the Suzuki Method and later followed with the Barbara Barber - Solos for Young Violinists Method and also began with selected pieces of the violin repertoire. In between for technical studies he did the Kreutzer 42 Studies, Sitt Etudes, Hrymaly Scales, Ševčík double stops/exercises and Schradieck exercises.

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In the 90s he played student concertos from composers like F. Seitz, Oskar Rieding, Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Antonio Vivaldi and Franz Anton Hoffmeister. He also liked to play the Vivaldi A minor Concerto and Summer first and second movement, and  baroque duets for violin and cello and also Pleyel Duets. He played mostly with his father at schools, in church and at other occasions.

 

"My first inspirations in music and in the violin world were the recordings by Bach Sonatas and Partitas performed by Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin. Also I liked the Itzhak Perlman -Cinema Serenade, The Leila Josefowicz - Bohemian Rhapsodies and the Paganini 24 Caprices performed by Salvatore Accardo and Ilya Kaler. At that time, Heifetz was my favorite violinist as I had other recordings of him playing the Mendelssohn/Mozart 5th/Vieuxtemps 5th Violin Concertos."

 

"I think I felt my music passion specially while listening to those recordings I've mentioned and it was the beginning of my dream to play the violin."​​​​​​​​​​

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Early 2000s - Development

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At the of 9 he began learning the Sonatas and Partitas by Bach by himself and started to emerge himself more profoundly with his passion with music.

 

During the ages of 9-12, his favorite pieces to play in public were the pieces such as the Presto in G minor, The Allemande and Gigue in D minor by Bach, the La Folia by Corelli and the Perpetuum Mobile by Novácek.

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His first experiences playing with the orchestra were at the age of 12 and he started to play with local orchestras and played at the EMB School, in church and at other events.

 

During the early 2000s he was starting to learn his first concertos such as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor and the Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 in A major.

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In 2005, he participated for the first time in the The International Summer Course of the Brasília Music School (CIVEBRA-EMB) and attended masterclasses with the French Violinist Stefani Morali.

 

That course was a remarkable period for him because she helped him learning the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, such as the: 

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Sonata I in G minor, Adagio, Fugue and Presto; 

Partita II in D minor such as the Allemande, Sarabande, Gigue and Chaconne; 

Partita III in E major; the Preludio, Loure, and Gavotte and Rondo.

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2005 - "That year was a remarkable year for me because during that course I played  for the first time  the Symphony No.9, The New World by Dvorak, playing the first violin. And later in 2014, who'd have known that I'd have been the Concert Master to lead the orchestra to play the same Symphony and have played the solos of this Great Classical Work, at the CIVEBRA 36th Edition."​

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2008-2012 

 

Bachelor of Music - Violin Performance - University of Brasília (UnB)

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When he was 18 and finished High School, he went to University of Brasília (UnB) to pursue a High Degree in Music. There he studied with the Bulgarian violinist and professor, Nadia Nedialkova who mentored him for 4 years.

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During his graduation, he also participated twice in the International Music Festival of Londrina (FIML) where he had masterclasses with the Brazilian renowned violinists Daniel Guedes and Claudio Cruz.​ His first experience as a concert master was in 2010 at the FIML and played with the conductor Daisuke Soga.

 

In 2011 while he was studying at UnB he performed  for the first time the Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor with the University String Orchestra of UnB. (Orquestra de Cordas da UnB).

 

Denis also worked temporarily 8 times in the Concert Season of 2011 at the Cláudio Santoro National Theater Symphony Orchestra (OSTNCS), and worked as first and second violin.

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During this time he also played Chamber Music and played works like the Violin Sonata No.5, the Spring Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Trio No.1 in B Major by Brahms.  ​

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Teaching Experiences by 2011-12 - He also taught violin at a school a project that was a class of violin adult beginners that was taught in group classes.

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When he finished his graduation in July of 2012, he moved immediately to Vienna in August 2 to pursue further studies in music. 

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Celtic Music 

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Denis was the violin soloist and member of the band Grupo Celta Sol da Meia-Noite where he played Celtic Music for 7 years and performed at the Mittellalter Bar as a residence band, and also played at celebrations, weddings, Medieval Festivals, and he also recorded and collaborated with other musicians. 

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"That was one of the greatest times in my life where I made people dance while playing Irish Music and I also played nostalgic Movie and Games Themes that people loved to see us play and it was a huge pleasure playing with a band."

 

"Some memorable hits people loved to hear us play, it was the The Old Ways, The Irish Mandala, He's a Pirate from the Pirates of The Caribbean and Time's Scar from Chrono Cross. There were also some traditional tunes such as the Pidgeon on the Gate, Lark in the Morning, Cantiga 119, The Kesh Jig, Greensleeves and many more."

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Meeting Kevin Burke 

 

While already living in Vienna in September 2012, Denis had violin lessons with the legendary Irish Fiddle Player, Kevin Burke.

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"It was one of the greatest moments when I got to meet Kevin Burke, he was my greatest inspiration for Irish Music and he was so kind and respectful. We have had deep conversations about life and music that gave me direction to keep being inspired and follow through what I believe."

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2012-2013 - Vienna-Austria 

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Wiener Prayner Konservatorium - Artist Diploma (Violin Performance)

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After graduating he moved to Vienna-Austria to study violin at the Wiener Prayner Konservatorium with the Violin Professor Wolfram König, who was a pupil from George Enescu and also studied with a student from Eugene Ysaÿe. Wolfram König was the founder and artist director of the Musikalischen Sommers in Ostfriesland and wrote the book "Keys to Violin Playing".

 

In Austria, Denis travelled to play with local orchestras and participated in festivals such as the Brucknertage in St.Florian, and played various concerts with the Upper Austrian Youth Symphony Orchestra (Oberösterreichisches Jugendsinfonieorchester ) and he also played Cinema Music with the PLAY-Projekt Orchester Cinematics in cities like Linz, Weinberg and more. 

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2014- USA

 

The Jascha Heifetz Symposium 

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In 2014, During the International Summer Music Festival at the Escola de Música de Brasília, he attended masterclasses with Sherry Kloss, who is a Concert Violinist, Co-Founder of Jascha Heifetz Society and Founder-Director of the Jascha Heifetz Symposium of Individual Style. She studied with Jascha Heifetz and worked with him as his assistant and also studied with Nathan Milstein.

 

At the end of the Music Festival in Brasília, Denis was awarded a Full Tuition Scholarship from Sherry Kloss to participate in the Jascha Heifetz Symposium in Connecticut-USA from 22 June to July 2, at the Connecticut College in New London. 

 

There he attended masterclasses with the Jascha Heifetz's students, Sherry Kloss, Jeanne Skrocki and Elaine Skorodin. He also had masterclasses there with the violin masters Arturo Delmoni and Joseph Silverstein.

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Duo Nacional Brasilis

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In 2014 Denis began a chamber music Duo with his friend pianist and composer Pedro Neme, and they named their project as Duo Nacional Brasilis.

 

Denis collaborated with his friend, helping him writing for violin and they played the Suite Brasiliense for violin and piano for the first time live at the Super Radio FM 89.9 and later at Sala Cássia Eller, FUNARTE, in Brasília.

 

They also have recorded the album of the suite and recorded for the TV Program "Músicas que Elevam" and they have played the Beethoven Violin Sonata No.8, Jascha Heifetz Transcriptions, The Suite Brasiliense and a Brazilian piece transcription by Pedro Neme. ​

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2015-2022 - Composition and Further Studies

 

Exploring different paths, Self-Discovery and Creative Works 

 

In 2015, Denis started to work on his own and focused on developing his solo studies like the major violin concertos and his creative works like songwriting, composing music for violin and piano, practicing the piano, while he also have studied in 2015 Business Administration and further Public Administration in 2016-17.

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Since 2016 he has started writing also his own method for the violin where he wrote several violin technical exercises, melodies, caprices and studies that helped him overcome his own challenges at the violin practice. 

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In 2020 he released his first single on Spotify with the Sonata No.1 in G minor For Violin Solo: Adagio by J.S.Bach. That was a remarkable period when he decided also to study marketing and study on his own music production. 

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In 2022 he started to study MBA in Business Marketing while creating his own works and building his presence on social media platforms.

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2022- 2024 - Sharing Music and growing Social Media: TikTok and YouTube

 

Denis started building his online presence growing his TikTok account @DenisViolin and YouTube Channel @denisdemattos and he is also Teaching Violin Privately. His first viral video was La Campanella that reached on the 2 of February of 2024 more than 955K+ views and that moment inspired him to record more videos and share his favorite pieces through TikTok. 

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2025 - @DenisViolin, the TikTok Boom happened March 2025

 

Denis started to build his presence on TikTok with his account @DenisViolin and after the first viral video of La Campanella with more than 1 Million views, he started to share other more videos playing some of the TikTok Hits like the 4 seasons from Vivaldi, specially the Summer Storm and the Spring. Also he started sharing his own arrangements and cover songs with a very particular approach. His versions of songs such as The Homelander Theme, The Boys, that got viral with more than 1 Million and the fans even said things like: "This version should be at the next season of The Homelander." 

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The TikTok Boom hitted right in March of 2025, when he shared the trend he created with a game filter and he already had tested it back then in 2024 in mid-September, with the song Rush E but that one reached like 60K+ Views at that time.

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This time in March 2025 he used the filter again to test the same idea and played the 9th Symphony of Dvorak, the famous named Symphony New World which he played as a Concert Master once back then in 2014 in a Music Festival at the CIVEBRA Festival 2014 at the EMB-Brasília. That opened his path to new fans, reaching a bigger audience, before being 10k and that post reached about 3.7 Million views bringing more than 2730 fans. That was the time that he reached specially the reaching Japan, Russia and Ukraine. Then he played the Vivaldi Summer that started the TikTok Boom reaching more than 12.5 Million Views bringing more than 20K+ new fans across the globe. 

 

His biggest hit then became the 25.1+ Million views video, the viral sensation In the Hall of The Mountain King Challenge by Edvard Grieg, the Peer Gynt, Op.46, he even finished with a different chord to make it powerful and the fans got blown away, reaching people worldwide specially from USA, South America and Brazil, United Kingdom, Europe - (Germany, France, Italy, Turkey etc), and also Egypt, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and more.

 

That peak moment brought him more than 28K new fans accross the globe and he reached 52K+ followers at his TikTok account @DenisViolin. 

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The favourite pieces from the fans that Denis have played were from composers like Paganini, Vivaldi, Chopin and Bach, and also songs that come from movie themes, anime songs, some of the trendy songs like The Homelander Theme, and the ones he particularly wrote his own arrangements for them.

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The songs that opened his path on the platform surely were from Paganini, Vivaldi, Chopin, back then in 2024, but then he tried new pieces that were quite unexpected for him to play and those brought him a new and much bigger worldwide fanbase to do new experimentations through a diverse range of music styles.

 

After that peak moment, he took time to plan his upcoming releases, like new arrangements for cover songs, and also to release new compositions, and he thought it was a great moment to put his own ideas into the world, and he understands that the moment, now, it is a new opportunity for growing as a musician, and playing also different styles of music, such as: Anime Songs, Soundtrack Movies, Popular Songs, etc. 

 

While he is posting mostly Classical Music from the Violin Repertoire, he's been embracing new styles, and the huge opportunity that is to be creating and experimenting new ideas, it's his time to be growing as an artist.

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"To be communicating with an audience is one of the most amazing things and I am learning everyday something new. I feel like my art is growing and people touch my heart very deeply when they say that I motivate them to practice, or that they want to start the violin for the first time or when they say they want to go back to study and they want to pick up the violin again.

 

That changed my life and I feel like I have a place to deliver part of what I dedicated my life all of this years. And it totally worth it. To be communicating it makes me happy and I want to make people happier and make music. I want to keep creating and be inspired with music and art.

 

Now it doesn't feel only, that I have to practice. But actually, instead, I would say: what would I like to communicate and create for now? What I mean is that I have to understand their needs and how can I be helpful with my voice. And there is a lot to learn and I also want to share the method I created. I hope to be doing it soon! And of course, I want to share my music and my compositions!"

17/06/2025, The Author - Denis de Mattos

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Denis de Mattos

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