Czech-American violinist and composer Matteo Hager, born in Prague in 2003, began playing the violin at the age of four. He graduated from the Music Gymnasium in Prague, where he studied under Professor Jiří Fišer, and earned a merit-based scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he currently studies with Professor Rodney Friend.
Matteo is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including the Czech National Music Competition, The J. Micka Violin Competition, the Václav Hudeček Academy, the France Music Competition, the Augustin Aponte Competition in Spain, Note di Talento in Italy, and the International Showcase Music Competition in Hamburg. He received a Gold Medal at the Manhattan International Music Competition, the Award for Exceptional Talent at the Kroměříž Academy, and the main prize at the Antonín Dvořák Classical Music Competition 2025. 

In 2023, Matteo was recognized as one of the world’s “Rising Stars” by BBC Music Magazine, and in 2025 he was awarded Great Britain’s prestigious Musicians’ Company Silver Medal for the most outstanding conservatoire students in the UK.

He has performed as a soloist across three continents and collaborated with esteemed conductors such as Jack Gonzalez-Harding, Tomáš Netopil, Radek Baborák, Alena Hron, Chuhei Iwasaki, Tomáš Brauner, Marek Šedivý, Petr Vronský, Jan Kučera and Naci Özgüç. Matteo has appeared as a soloist with renowned orchestras, including the Barbican Sinfonia, Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Prague Philharmonia, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Soloists, Central London Orchestra, The Ukrainian-Czech Sinfonietta, I Virtuosi di Kyiv and the Bursa Regional State Symphony Orchestra, among others.

As a soloist, he has appeared at many renowned festivals, including the Mayfield Festival, The Dvořák Prague Festival, the Lednice–Valtice Music Festival, Pardubice Music Spring, Festival Krumlov, among others. As a laureate of the Ševčík Academy he performed as a soloist at the Konzerthaus Berlin during the Young Euro Classic 2024 festival. As a laureate of the ISMC competition, he also appeared at the Winners’ Concert at the Elbphilharmonie-Laeiszhalle in Hamburg.

Together with violinist Martina Bačová, he recorded the album Violin: Solos and Duets.
In addition to his performing career, Matteo is a passionate composer. As a laureate of the 2022 Showcase of Young Talented Soloists and Composers, he performed his original composition, "Threnody," at the Rudolfinum as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival. As a winner of the Young Talent Performance Competition in Ostrava, Matteo presented his own Violin Concerto with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava in February 2026. He will also perform his original compositions at the Prague Spring Festival 2026. 

Matteo’s accomplishments are supported by several prestigious awards and grants, including the ABRSM Scholarship, the Albert Cooper Music Charitable Trust Grant, the Suresh and Richard McMillan Scholarship for Music, and the Comenium Musicum Academy MenART Grant from Božena Viskupová and Alena Viková.