Linus Mattsson

Meet the Musicians

I’m from Blekinge, from Asarum, north of Karlshamn. I’ve been involved in music my whole life—always playing the tuba and doing some choral singing. After music school in Karlshamn, my military service in the military band, and Lunnevad Folk High School, I went on to the Malmö Academy of Music. I worked as a freelancer from 2004 to 2008; during that time, I applied for a job at the Norrlands Opera, auditioned here in 2007, and got the job in 2008. I enjoy living in Umeå; to me, it feels like “a small big city,” with just the right pace and proximity to both the city and nature.

When you audition, it’s like a competition for the jobs. I’m proud that I passed my audition and got the job! It’s a privilege to have a steady job as a musician. The best part of the job is the variety. The mix of playing symphony orchestra concerts, opera, children’s performances, musical theater… well, we’ve even done several video game concerts. Once we had a Frank Zappa concert, and they wanted a special sound from the tuba. It all ended up with me holding a wok over the bell of the tuba with one hand and playing with the other! That’s probably the only time I’ve ever used a wok, by the way.

A fun concert can keep you going for a long time. It’s also wonderful to be part of a team and to work alongside others; after all, the challenges are constantly changing. You can usually tell right away when you get the sheet music whether it’s something you’ll need to devote a lot of time to, and whether it will be more or less challenging. You receive your sheet music before the preparation period—that is, the time set aside for practicing on your own—before rehearsals with the rest of the orchestra begin. It usually involves a lot of practice and some solo work, but we also help each other out by rehearsing in the brass section to support one another.

One amazing thing—in which I took part—was the outdoor opera *Elektra* in 2014. Beforehand, I was a little unsure about how it would go and what it would be like… for example, we in the orchestra were going to be sitting in a completely different venue and playing… but it went really well, and the whole experience was nothing short of fantastic—the audience, the excitement, the outdoor setting… well, everything!