BIO

Matthijs van der Wilt is a composer, producer, organist and pianist based in Rotterdam. He blends classical music, sacred music, electronica and storytelling into cinematic experiences that strengthen stories, deepen emotion and open up new musical worlds.

From 2014 to 2018 he studied organ and church music at Codarts. He also studied electronic composition and took minors in production and songwriting. He concluded his bachelor's with a varied programme and an original composition for organ and electronics. He then completed a master's in film composition with Paul van Brugge in the composition department at Codarts. There he wrote music for several short films, often together with students of the WDKA, which led to a number of remarkable Rotterdam documentaries.

Since 2021 he has been the organist of the Paradijskerk in Rotterdam, where he gladly serves as cantor-organist. Alongside his church music practice, he seeks out experiment and meetings with other disciplines. With Victor Lange he founded Paradijsvogels, a project that explores stillness and meditation as well as hypnotic minimal music, and which they presented in the Paradijskerk. He also makes microtonal noise experiments with Bernat Boronat and other avant-garde musicians.

Besides his love for organ and piano, he is fascinated by electronica and has a soft spot for alternative electronic dance music. Influenced by artists such as Jon Hopkins and Nils Frahm, he searches for ways to combine two seemingly opposite worlds: raw electronics and sacred religious music. This has led to new experiments for organ and electronics, including work with Willem 't Hart and other artists who let their music meet arrangements for organ.

His first album, Alexander, is a search for simplicity and a farewell to the Alexanderkerk, where he was previously organist. It consists of minimalist piano compositions with a hushed intimacy. On a very different path he made Vantage Point, a collection of film compositions, some of which appeared in films and some of which did not. Some are stretched, blown up, shortened or turned completely inside out to discover a new perspective. With artist Efthymios Stavropoulos he created Universalad 3.1, a large collage, each challenging the other and pushing their limits. For each of the poets Victor Lange, Wessel Klootwijk and Babette Antonette he composed an album with different kinds of music, and these can be performed live on request.

In addition to his concerts, classical and electronic work, Matthijs has created music and sound design for radio dramas in collaboration with the CBB. He has also scored short films and documentaries, including Over Roze Gesproken by Charlotte Maria, In Onze Natuur by Jorick Buurstra and Bastiaan Haas, Exodus by Amar Somaroo and Uithalers by Rien Bexkens.

From this broad musical background, he moves easily between classical music, church music, composition and contemporary music production. Both organ and electronics form an essential basis of his musical identity.

His work includes:

Composition & arrangement
Film composition & scoring
Electronic composition & music production
Organ, piano & improvisation
Sound design
Recording, mixing & editing
Podcasts
Radio dramas