Mattia Belz (* 2001, Langenthal, Switzerland) is a trumpeter who bridges the worlds of jazz and contemporary music. His musical work encompasses chamber music, solo performances and his own cross-genre trio, in which the notated tradition of classical music meets freely improvised music. His work has been documented on several recordings in the field of avant-garde jazz since 2022, ranging from large ensembles with the Jugendjazzorchester.ch to trios such as MaMaMa3.
He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2023 at the Bern University of the Arts under Ralph Alessi and Giuliano Sommerhalder. He subsequently continued his studies on the Improvising Master’s programme at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. During this time, he was awarded the Deutschlandstipendium and was nominated for the Folkwang Jazz Prize 2025. He also engaged intensively with contemporary music and took part several times in the Studio Musikfabrik development programme in Cologne, where he performed works by Romitelli, Feldman, Hosokawa and Oliveros, amongst others. He also took part in the Messiaen Days in Görlitz in 2026 and performed works by George Benjamin and Betsy Jolas with the Paris-based ensemble ‘Ecoute’.
In 2026, Belz formed his trio SPARKLE SHARK, for which he composed a new programme combining his influences from contemporary music with his background in jazz, and completed his Master’s degree with distinction.
Since spring 2026, he has been taking private lessons with Marco Blaauw, focusing on contemporary solo works.
Mattia Belz now lives in Cologne.
All photographs by Sasha Krutikova