Livia Mattos composes her work influenced by her experiences in the city of Salvador along with references picked on the road always having the accordion as the creative base for the different dimensions of her music. She keeps waking freely on her poetry that ranges from serenade and lyricism to the playful charm of the popular festivities from the urban Bahia and the Caribbean dances. She has on both hands the bellows and the breath to try different lineups on the shows, exploring the novelty that the variety of sounds and accents can bring to her work. There is plenty of repertoire filled with mazurcas, baiões, waltzes, kompas, samba, guarânias, xotes and rhythmic creations.

This show represents the traditional June festivities from northeastern Brazil. Amongst xote, xaxado, baião and arrasta-pé, the accordion plays the leading role on the rhythms that pulls everyone to the dancefloor. Masters such as Dominguinhos, Luiz Gonzaga, Jackson do Pandeiro, Marinês, Trio Nordestino and João do Vale are always in the set list. This young accordionist goes from town to town in Brazil and the world showing this traditional repertoire and the spirit of celebration for more than ten years. Dubliners (IE), Londoners (UK), Lillers (FR) and Berliners (DE) have all danced over her.

Folia de Fole is a show that proposes carnival dances surprisingly played in the accordion. The repertoire comes from ancient carnival festivities that represents the three different regions of Brazil: Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro. Frevos, marchinhas, ancient rumbas are all mixed together in a big party! The project was inspired by the music legacy of Sivuca who spread the frevo repertoire on the accordion with splendor.

This is a duet formed by Bahian accordionist Livia Mattos and French-Portuguese multi-instrumentalist Loïc Cordeone. This partnership began in July 2013 in Paris when they composed the song “O que eu quero levar” on their very first encounter. The recorded piece is available online. The duet is formed by two accordions although other instruments are also used, mixing various references from diverse musical regions and personal tastes. This way, the rhythmic universe wanders around kompa, samba, Caribbean mazurca, musette, fado, forró, waltz and Balkan music influences, providing an interesting background for the process of creating as a duet.

Playing the accordion few meters from the ground suspended on air. That is more like it. Sitting on a trapeze, flowing on a yodel, hanging from a crane, or whatever lets her play in high places, the circus accordionist Livia Mattos is up for it! The height until now has varied from 6m to 60m up from the ground. This can be either an instrumental or a singing performance.

Mono Amour is a performance created from the research project developed by the circus performer and musician Livia Mattos. Through the accordion, the monocycle and acrobatic movements a dive of love is experienced, the feminine, the never-ending flow of life in bellows and wheels. It arose from the flowing concept: if you stop, you fall. Supported by Secretaria de Cultura da Bahia (SECULT-BA) the process revealed itself as the number MONO AMOUR, where the artist comes to play the accordion whilst balanced in the monocycle. The number lasts 12 minutes and can be adapted to other formats depending on the proposal.