Concertino
António Manuel de Sousa Vieira began his mandolin studies at the Coimbra Music Conservatory with Flávio Pinho. He then entered the Esch-sur-Alzette Conservatory in Luxembourg where he studied with the virtuoso Maestro Juan Carlos Munoz, Neapolitan/Baroque mandolin and chamber music.
He has held chamber music and mandolin courses in several countries, with great names in Plectro music such as Juan Carlos Muñoz, Mari Fe Pavón, Mirko Schrader, Caterina Lichtenberg, Marga Wilden-Hüsgen, Keith Harris….
He founded the Duo Magalhães da Gama and the Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Bandolins of which he is its Concertmaster and Artistic Director. He was the first Portuguese to join EGMYO – European Guitar and Mandolin Youth Orchestra (2006 – Greece, 2007 – Italy, 2008 – Spain). He was also the first Portuguese member of the Orquestra Europeia de Guitarras e Bandolins – Il Forum Musicale.
It has been active in most of Europe (Spain, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Greece…). He is the instrumentalist invited to perform the mandolin parts of several orchestras in Portugal, having already collaborated with the Orquestra Sinfónica da Casa da Música do Porto, OrchestrUtopica, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música…, under the direction of Christoph König, Peter Rundel, Emilio Pomarico, John Storgards, Olari Elts, Andrew Litton... He recently played solo with the Orquestra Clássica do Centro the Small Italian Suite for Mandolin and Strings by Eurico Carrapatoso under the direction of José Eduardo Gomes. In 2013, together with guitarist Rui Gama, he created the Ciglia Ensemble, dedicated to promoting the new sounds of Plectro's music.
In September 2007, he began teaching the mandolin course at the Vila Real Music Conservatory. In the academic year 2009/2010 he was invited to open a mandolin class at the Escola de Música de Esposende. In 2010/2011 he started the mandolin course at Companhia da Música in Braga and in 2013/14 at Conservatório de Música do Porto. He teaches the only mandolin degree in Portugal, at Universidade de Aveiro.
1ºBandolim
José Leal
Juliana Negrão
2ºBandolim
Patrícia Raquel He began his musical studies at Artave – Escola Profissional de Música do Vale do Ave, completing the 7th degree of Cello. In 2010 he began studying mandolin at Companhia da Música in Braga with Professor António Vieira, having finished the 8th grade with the same teacher at the Conservatório de Música do Porto. In 2015, he began studying the mandolin with Professor Juan Carlos Muñoz at the Conservatoire de Musique Esch-sur-Alzette, where he still attends upper-level mandolin classes. Masterclasses with Juan Carlos Muñoz, Daniel Ahlert, Fernando Bustamante.
Orchestral practice since 1998 with the possibility of working with numerous conductors. He participated in the 2010 editions of EGMYO Pula (Croatia), 2011 Logroño (Spain), 2012 Split (Croatia) and 2014 Marseille (France), having also played as a guest musician in Orquestra Ensemble à plectre Esch/Alzette and in Ciglia Ensemble.
OPGB CD recording “Pleiades” (2015). Member of OPGB since 2007.
Pedro Gonçalves He began his journey on guitar, having integrated several alternative music projects, with several record editions and presence in renowned festivals.
He began his mandolin studies at the Associação Cultural de Plectro school under the supervision of Professor António Vieira. He also attended the classes of profs. Jorge Carvalho and Patricia Andrade. He held a masterclass under the guidance of the virtuoso Juan Carlos Muñoz, in 2011 and 2012, participating in various orchestra internships promoted by the Association.
Member of the Portuguese Orchestra of Guitars and Mandolins since 2008.
Adriano Campinho
Jorge Carvalho He began his studies at the Esposende Music School in the class of prof. Antonio Vieira, having finished at the Porto Conservatory of Music where he obtained 20 out of 20 in the final recital.
Alongside his journey with the Portuguese Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra, he has performed in various formations: Orquestra Sinfónica Casa da Música, Remix Ensemble and Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa.
He is currently a teacher at the music school in Esposende and conductor and artistic director of the Grupo Coral de Professores do Porto.
Attends the 1st year of the degree in Mandolin at the University of Aveiro.
Bandola
David Rodrigues Born in Lamego, graduated in Music from the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (2014) and Master in Music Teaching in the field of Musical Sciences from the University of Minho (2017) with the report “The Repertory for Stringed Cordophones as a Source of Learning in Science Teaching Musicals: The Case of the Mandolin”. He completed the complementary mandolin course at the Conservatório de Música do Porto (2016) and has been studying with Professor António de Sousa Vieira since 2014.
He is currently a professor at the Regional Conservatory of Music in Vila Real, a collaborator in the “Quinto Império” project in Lamego and is attending the Master in Music Teaching in the vocational area of mandolin at the University of Aveiro.
Nelson Silva He began his musical studies on classical guitar with Manuel Barros. At university and as a member of the academic tuna he discovered and came into contact with the mandolin. In 2001 and within the Porto Capital of Culture, he joined the “Quinas – Orquestra de Plectro do Porto”.
In 2010 he met António Vieira, with whom he resumed his study of the mandolin, having taken the 8th Grade exam at the Conservatório de Música de Coimbra in 2012. , Juan Carlos Muñoz, Marga Wilden-Husgen, Daniel Ahlert and Fernando Bustamante.
Since 2011 he has also dedicated himself to teaching the mandolin in various schools and academies. Alongside his activity as a musician and teacher, in 2015 he began his activity as luthier, as a maker of plectrum instruments.
Fernando Noronha He attended Musical Training at the Óscar da Silva School of Music with Prof. Paulino Garcia. He was a student of Prof. António Vieira (Bandolin) at the OPGBAC School.
At the Porto Jazz School, he performed with Prof. Alberto Jorge, the Electric Bass course.
He was and still is a member of several Portuguese Modern Music bands (Pop/Rock, Alternative, World Music).
Effective musician in the Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Bandolins.
Jorge Costa Born in V. N. Gaia. He began his musical journey on the classical guitar. At the Perosinho School of Music, he completed the 8th Grade of Guitar in the class of Professor Hugo Sanches. He continued his studies at ESMAE, where he graduated in Early Music with a Lute variant, in the class of Professor Ronaldo Lopes.
He has been an active member of the OPGB since the concerts of the 2017 season.
Guitarra
César Pinto Born in Porto, graduated in Classical Guitar in the class of Professor Artur Caldeira and with a Masters in Music Teaching, both from ESMAE.
Member of the Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Mandolins since 2007 and section leader since 2010. He has participated with the orchestra in more than a hundred concerts in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland and Germany. He recorded with OPGB in 2015 his first CD, “Pleiades”, and in 2022 his second CD “Fernando C. Lapa | Songs Across the Street | OPGB Integral for orchestra of guitars and mandolins”.
With the “Solistas da OPGB” formation, he has already given dozens of concerts throughout the country, including a concert at the 7th Guimarães International Guitar Festival.
As a guitar and mandolin duo, he played several concerts in Porto, Paredes and Foz Coa.
As a soloist, he participated in the concert “Natalis Bracarae” together with Ricardo Cerqueira in the interpretation of the work “Suite Indiana” by Jorge Cardoso with OPGB accompaniment.
In 2016 he participated in the EGMYO 2016 (European Guitar and Mandolin Youth Orchestra) where two concerts in Echternach (Luxembourg) and Otzenhausen (Germany) stand out.
As a professor, he currently teaches at the Marco de Canavezes Conservatory of Music - Artâmega.
Tiago Cassola He studied at the Conservatories of Aveiro and Lisbon, graduating from the Conservatório Superior de Música de Salamanca under the guidance of Hugo Geller and later obtained a Master's degree in Music Teaching from the University of Aveiro.
With Eduardo Baltar, he forms the Baltar Cassola Guitar Duo, with about a hundred concerts in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.
He was a soloist with OPGB and with the Orquestra de Cordas do Conservatório Nacional.
He is regularly invited as a jury member at International Guitar Festivals in Portugal (Amarante, Guimarães, Cidade de Gaia).
Lecturer at the Porto Music Conservatory of guitar classes and Guitar Ensembles since 2010.
He has been an effective member of the OPGB since 2017.
Carlos Fernandes In 2000, he began his studies in classical guitar with Professor Jorge Casimiro Silva at the Escola de Música de Lavra, having taken the 5th Grade exam at the Conservatório de Música de Calouste Gulbenkian in Aveiro.
Since 2011, he has been an associate member of Associação Cultural de Plectro and an integral member of the Portuguese Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra, having already performed in several international and national concert halls, with emphasis on his performance at Casa da Música.
Held the 1st and 2nd International Internship of the Cultural Association of Plectrum under the guidance of Maestro Juan Carlos Muñoz, in 2011 and 2012 in the city of Maia.
He was part of the organizational entourage of the 2nd to 5th edition of the Plectrum International Music Festival, which took place in Maia and Gondomar.
João Varão Musician licensed in classical guitar. He started classical guitar studies in 2008 at EPME – Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho. He has studied with several nationally and internationally renowned guitarists: Hugo Geller, Gabriel Guillen, Dimitri van Halderen, Gaelle Solal, Ricardo Iván Barceló Abeijón, Rui Gama, Augusto Pacheco...
He is currently a guitar teacher at Academia da Música da Maia.
António Vale Born in 1985 and born in Penafiel, he began his musical studies at the Academia de Música de Paredes, studying guitar under the guidance of Professor Ricardo Abreu. In 2004, he enrolled in the Teachers of Basic Education course – Musical Education Variant at the Escola Superior de Educação do Porto, completing his degree in 2009. guitar with Professor Paulo Ramos. During this period, he participated in acting courses with Margarita Escarpa, Pedro Rodrigues and Artur Caldeira.
In 2013, he joined the Degree in Instrument – Variant Guitar at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Especçou (ESMAE) in the class of Professor Artur Caldeira, finishing the degree in 2017. He currently teaches Classical Guitar at Academia Fernando Matos in Caldas das Taipas and at the Artistic Academy of Colégio Casa Mãe in Paredes.
He is, since December 2017, an effective member of the Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Bandolins.
Contrabaixo
João Francisco dos Santos He studied Double Bass at the Porto Jazz School, Classical Guitar and Double Bass at the Regional Conservatory of Gaia. Also in Contrabass, at the Conservatório de Música do Porto, he attended the class of Jean-Marc Faucher.
Participation in the OPGB since 2010.