Gonçalo Maia Caetano and Wales Guitar Duo

Gonçalo Maia Caetano and Wales Guitar Duo

Tickets: adults £7 | seniors £5 | youth £0

Note: summer school students get free entry to all concerts (no ticket required)

Young Artist Platform - lunch time concert

IGF’s Young Artist Platform (YAP) aims to help young musicians in the critical phase between the final stages of music education and the concert platform. The programme provides much needed performance opportunities and mentoring for young guitarists and ensembles starting out in their careers, as well as the opportunity to work with a composer and premiere a new work.

Gonçalo Maia Caetano

Gonçalo Maia Caetano is a classical guitarist from Pinhel, Portugal, currently finishing his Master of Arts degree at the Royal Academy of Music with professor Michael Lewin. Gonçalo has won over 10 international competitions, the most important prize being The Prince’s Prize, from The Musician’s Company. Other important awards include scholarships for his studies from The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, The Craxton Memorial Trust, Help Musicians, The Musicians’ Company and the Royal Academy of Music. 

Gonçalo has had Masterclasses with distinguished guitarists such as David Russell, Fabio Zanon, Aniello Desiderio, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Roland Dyens, Laura Young and many more acclaimed musicians. In 2020, Gonçalo joined the “Phemo Quartet” as a Bass player and they have performed in well known venues such as the Vortex Jazz Club and the Kings Place. Later this year, the quartet will release their first album “Anti-Revelation”.

The programme includes the world premieres of new IGF commissions by Ashkan Layegh and Laila Arafah, as well as works by Toru Takemitsu and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Wales Guitar Duo

Established in 2020, the Wales Guitar Duo is formed of Welsh classical guitarists, Cai Charles and Oliver Manning. They met during their undergraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Known for their on-stage charisma and rapport, the Wales Guitar Duo break preconceived concert platform expectations with their choice of repertoire and strong off-stage friendship shining through, bridging the gap between performer and audience. They have performed both in the UK and abroad, most notably for Budleigh Music Festival and the 'Maestros de la Guitarra' concert series in Granada, Spain.

As individuals, both Cai and Oliver have had continued success as soloists. Oliver Manning was selected by John Williams to become a Julian Bream Trust Scholar in 2023 to support his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music, London. During Oliver's undergraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, he won first prize in the John Mills Guitar Competition, first prize in the Orpheus Voice and Guitar Competition, two McGrenery Chamber Competition nominations and won the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales award for music. Oliver gave his international concert debut in 2022 with a tour of Spain, giving the world premiere of Gerald Garcia's duo guitar concerto Spanish Ladies.

Cai Charles had great success at Wales' National Eisteddfod in 2023 where he won the Solo String competition and was selected as one of the four best musicians to compete for the prestigious Rhuban Glas award. He has also performed in affiliation with Ty Cerdd, and gave the UK première of the Dos Dalias concerto by Gerardo Tamez as a soloist during the World Harp Congress 2022 in St David's Hall, Wales.

The programme includes a new IGF 2024 commission by Welsh composer David John Roche.