Matilda Mensink and Mateus Barros

Matilda Mensink, born in Porto (2005), currently studies at the University of Music and Art, in Vienna, Austria, in the class of Professor Alexandra Soumm. Previously, he studied at the Porto Music Conservatory in the class of professor Cecília Falcão, where he finished with top marks. In parallel, he studied privately with Professor Evandra Gonçalves, for 9 years, and in the last year also with Professor Zofia Woycicka. She was a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Official Music Conservatories, of the Young Portuguese Orchestra and has been a member of the prestigious European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) since 2023 (reserve in 2025). She was 1st place (ex aequo) in the competition for backup violins of the Porto Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, after a competition, at the age of 17. She has played in major concert halls such as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest and the Casino in Sinaia (Romania), the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Concertgebouw in Bruges, among others. She has won more than three dozen awards in various national and international competitions. She received awards for best interpretation of the mandatory piece, best interpretation of the Portuguese piece and the Virtuosity Award in different competitions. She was awarded the CMP/Casa da Música award and the CMP/Palácio da Bolsa award, solo and in chamber music. He received 2nd prize in Chamber Music at the higher level in the Young Musicians Award competition. She has held masterclasses with violinists such as Gerardo Ribeiro, Ani Schanarch, Álvaro Pereira, Pedro Meireles, Anne Vitorino de Almeida, Lilit Davtyan, Sergey Arutyunyan, Ana Sofia Mota, Augusto Trindade, among others. She has performed solo accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Vigo Conservatory, the Symphony Orchestra of the Porto Conservatory of Music and the Camerata Atlântica, in a concert recorded by Antena 2.

Mateus Barros began studying piano at the age of 6 at the Porto Music Conservatory, where he studied with Nuno Caçote and Maria José Souza Guedes, obtaining the highest classifications and distinctions during this journey. He continued his studies in Higher Education, at ANSO–Metropolitana, in the class of Prof. Paulo Oliveira and currently studies with Professor Jill Lawson. He took several advanced training courses with Vladimir Viardo, Anna Malikova, Alexander Tutunov, Ivo Kahánek, Alberto Urróz, Miguel Borges Coelho, Fausto Neves, Constantin Sandu and Álvaro Teixeira Lopes, among others. He has won more than three dozen awards in national and international competitions, including Santa Cecilia, Alexandre Scriabin (Paris), Coimbra, Ilda Moura, Fundão, Paços de Brandão, Seia, Ponta Delgada, Elisa Pedroso, Alto Minho, Almada, Oeiras, S. Teotónio, Póvoa de Varzim, Tavira, Seia, Caminha, among others. He was awarded the Inatel Foundation Prize in the Young Soloist Competition. It is also worth noting that he was awarded two prizes, revelation and distinction. As a soloist, he recently performed in public in Lisbon, with the Metropolitan Academic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Jean-Marc Burfin. In addition to other performances as a soloist, he has performed in solo recitals, while simultaneously maintaining intense activity in different chamber music groups. Of note are the recitals held at the Campo Alegre Theatre, at the House of Music (House of Music Award 2022), Teatro Rivoli, the Visconde Balsemão Palace, the António de Almeida Foundation, the Micaelense Theatre (Ponta Delgada), the House of Culture (S. João da Madeira), in Cristelo-Paredes, Vila do Conde and in Vila Praia de Âncora.