At the Belgrade Philharmonic on Sunday, October 21 at 8 p.m. multi-award winning Swedish pianist and composer Matti Bye will give a concert on a prepared piano, performing film music for which he was awarded the most important prizes in Sweden and internationally, as well as solo tracks from his latest album “This Forgotten Land.” The music that Matti Bye creates is very similar to the compositions of Debussy and Satie.

Critics point out that “he is able to paint with music,” which” alludes to the strange, romantic mood you get when you hear old merry go rounds, or mechanical instruments in small amusement parks, and abandoned places.” (The Wire). One improvised session will also be performed by the participants of a workshop that Matti will conduct before the concert.

The year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest filmmakers and authors of all time, and the project “Film, Music and Something in Between” sheds light on a specific part of Bergman’s film universe – his perception of music. As part of this project, composer and pianist Matti Bye, who has had the opportunity to work directly with Bergman, will be a guest of Belgrade and will take part in a series of programs.

Bye has also written a series of compositions for early Swedish silent films, such as “The Phantom Carriage” (1921) and “The Saga of Gösta Berling” (1924).

He has written soundtracks for more than 30 films and television series, and for several years he was an associate of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. In 2014 he had two nominations for the most important Swedish film music award (Guldbagge) and won with music for the film “Faro,” and in 2009 he also won the Guldbagge for the film “Everlasting Moments,” which was Sweden’s submission for an Oscar for best foreign language film. He has published numerous solo albums as well as albums in collaboration with other authors, including “Hydras Dream” with Anna von Hausswolff and “Maailma” with iconic Finnish composer Lau Nau. He worked with Bergman on the TV movie “The Last Gasp” (1994).

Matti is a pianist who likes to explore the piano as an instrument, often playing on a prepared piano and including other sounds and atmospheres in his performance – “I am inspired by instruments that have a flaw, a weakness that makes them special.” He is described as an “outstanding performer, with his own, inimitable style of improvisation on the piano.”

The project “Film, Music and Something in Between” was realized by Eho animato, in cooperation with its partners: The Embassy of Sweden in Belgrade, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Yugoslav Film Archive Museum, and Geopoetika Publishing Co. The project is co-financed through a competition for contemporary creation by the Culture Ministry of the Republic of Serbia.

Free tickets are available at the Belgrade Philharmonic’s Ticket Office starting Monday, 15 October.