Matthias Achleitner was born on 15 October 2002 in Wels and lives in Aichkirchen bei Lambach (district of Wels-Land, Upper Austria). His parents are Markus Achleitner (State Provincial Governor of Upper Austria) and Silke Achleitner (office worker), he has two brothers Martin (born in 1997) and Michael (born in 2007).

He attended primary school in Aichkirchen from 2009-2013, then transferred to the secondary school of the Benedictine Abbey of Lambach from 2013-2017. In September 2017, he started his education at the Adalbert Stifter Musik-Gymnasium Linz, where he completed the so-called M-class (5 years with a focus on music). At the same time, he studied improvisation with Prof. Schlimp and ear training with Prof. Kadic at the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz as part of the “Academy for the Promotion of the Gifted” (ABF). In June 2022 he completed the Matura with distinction.

Achleitner’s musical education began at the age of 5, when he started playing the recorder with Simone Gerner. After a year, he then started playing the piano, which he also studied with Mag. Gerner until he was 14. Building on this, he transferred to the Music School of the City of Linz in 2017, where he took piano lessons with Rainer Nova. In addition, at the age of 8 he also began taking trumpet lessons with Mag. Thomas Schatzdorfer at the State Music School in Gunskirchen, where he completed the final exam in 2020 with the Young Musicians’ Achievement Badge in gold.

Achleitner already played in numerous ensembles such as e.g. the Trachtenmusikkapelle Neukirchen bei Lambach, the Bezirksjungendorchester Wels-Land, the Jugendbrassband Oberösterreich, in the Österreichisches Bundesjugendblasorchester, the Militärmusik Oberösterreich (substitute), the symphonic orchestra of the Musikgymnasium Linz and the symphonic orchestra of the Music School of the City of Linz in Třeboň (Czech Republic) as a soloist on the piano with Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major”.

Matthias Achleitner immersed himself in the world of composition at a young age. At the age of 12 he experienced “his key moment” when he met the well-known composer Thomas Doss. Doss wrote a commissioned work for the Trachtenmusikkapelle Neukirchen bei Lambach called “Legends of Gold in Green” and rehearsed it personally with the orchestra. This work made an incredible impression on Achleitner and out of this fascination he began composing as an autodidact. His first composition was a piece for choir and ensemble “SOS – Singing Without Scruples” as an anthem for his school choir in Lambach at the time.

In 2018, at the age of 15, Achleitner received his first composition commission from the Police Music Upper Austria as part of their “Young Composers Support Project”. He wrote a character piece for large symphonic wind orchestra: “A Musician’s Life” – a musical homage to the life of a musician from birth through all phases of life to death. Achleitner celebrated a brilliant success with his debut composition at the premiere on 11 April 2019 in the Linz Brucknerhaus as a conductor of the Police Music of Upper Austria, receiving standing ovations from the sold-out audience. Other compositions followed, such as the “Erasmus Fanfare”, the polka “Heimatliebe” and the concert march “Optimistica”.

Due to his love of conducting, he started the Kapellmeisterkurs (ensemble conducting wind orchestra) of the Upper Austrian Wind Music Association in 2017 at the age of 14 with Thomas Doss, which he completed with distinction in 2020. At the same time, the long-standing deputy director and head of the conducting class at the Vienna University of Music and Arts (MUK) – Prof. Georg Mark – took him under his wing from October 2018, with whom he regularly enjoys private lessons. 

Achleitner gained his first conducting experience as a conductor of Lambach’s school choir, the youth band and the Trachtenmusikkapelle Neukirchen bei Lambach, the police music of Upper Austria, the Symphonic Wind Orchestra and the Symphonic Orchestra of the Musikgymnasium Linz.

In November 2019, Achleitner conducted a joint large symphonic orchestra as part of a cooperation project between the Linz and Prague music high schools. With Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf”, he stood at the podium of this international orchestra and celebrated great success with performances in Linz at the Anton Bruckner Private University as well as in the Church of St. Simon and Judas in Prague – a highlight of his career so far.

In July 2021, after several postponements, the Musikgymnasium finally succeeded in staging the long-awaited Beethoven programme. In the newly renovated “Stadttheater Greif” in Wels, the symphonic orchestra of the Musikgymnasium Linz conducted by Matthias Achleitner was able to perform Beethoven’s Overture to Coriolan as well as his 5th Symphony in C minor.

In 2021 Achleitner set a milestone in his career. In response to Corona, he founded his own symphonic orchestra – the UPPER AUSTRIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA. Together with his more than 60 musicians, he gave two founding concerts in the great hall of the Anton Bruckner Private University with a colourful programme dedicated to dance and dance music.

The next historic moment for the young orchestra followed at the turn of the year 2021/2022. With a New Year’s Eve and a New Year’s Day concert, the UPPER AUSTRIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA revitalised the so-called “Golden Hall of Upper Austria” – the ballroom of the Palais Linz – as a concert venue after a long absence. A fresh programme with the highlights of Viennese music rang in the year in a festive and optimistic manner and the performance of the young artists was rewarded with standing ovations at the two sold-out concerts.

In April/May 2022, the ERASMUS+ programme of the music high schools in Linz and Prague entered its finale and Achleitner was once again allowed to condcut one half of the concert. This time the programme included music by Bohuslav Martinů and Oskar Nedbal, a pupil of Antonín Dvořák. Two successful concerts in the Church of St. Simon and Judas in Prague and in the Brucknerhaus Linz concluded this great project, which left a lasting impression on the audience and the musicians.

Due to the terrible situation in the Ukraine, the Oberbank of Upper Austria and the UPPER AUSTRIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA made a cooperation and organised a charity concert on 31 May 2022 together with the ORF fundraising organisation “Neighbours in Need”. On this concert evening, Achleitner’s orchestra was able to show a wide range of genres and set a deliberate “counterpoint to tragedy” with joy of playing, verve and enthusiasm. After the concert, the incredible sum of 700,000€ was presented and donated.

Even after the Matura, Achleitner could not part with the Musikgymnasium and conducted Dvořák’s 9th Symphony “From the New World” (one of his absolute favourite symphonies) in the Friedenskirche in Linz at the final concert in the last week of school in July 2022 as the grand finale of his school time. The audience rewarded the orchestra’s unstoppable energy with standing ovations in the middle of the programme.

Achleitner has a clear vision of his artistic future:

“Music has excited, inspired and motivated me throughout my life – whether as a conductor, instrumentalist or composer – making music with dedication and passion is the greatest gift for me. My goal is to conduct great symphonic orchestras all over the world.”