Born in 2000, João Pedro Gonçalves started playing the cello at the age of 12 with Ana Cláudia Serrão as his mentor at Orquestra Geração, in Lisbon, continuing later with Marco Pereira and Paulo Gaio Lima. Having completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Jeroen Reuling, he is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, under the guidance of Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling. Since September 2024, João is teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, working together with Olsi Leka.
In recent years, he has had the opportunity to work with several professors, including Daniel Müller-Schott, Sol Gabetta, Frans Helmerson, Anne Gastinel, Alisa Weilerstein, Marc Coppey, Maria de Macedo and Alain Gervreau (baroque cello). He has also had the chance to work with some of the world’s leading conductors, such as Lorenzo Viotti, Gustavo Dudamel and Giancarlo Guerrero.
João is a first prize winner of the following competitions: Concurso Capela (2016), Concurso Nacional de Cordas Vasco Barbosa (2017), Prémio Fundação Inatel (2019), Prémio Jovens Músicos (2021), where he received the award Maestro Silva Pereira – Young Musician of the Year 2020/21 and he was a finalist at the Suggia International Award/Casa da Música (2022). In addition to this, João was awarded the Audience’s Prize at the Schiermonnikoog Festival 2024 and the Prix Jean- Nicolas Firmenich at Verbier Festival (2024).
He has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Young Belgian Strings, Orquestra Metropolitana, Camerata Atlântica, among others.
João plays on a cello made by Nicolas Lupot from 1804, on loan from the “Fonds de dotation Adelus”, whilst being supported by the Strings for Talent, a fund under the patronage of the King Baudouin Foundation.
Tanguy Fraval studied cabinet making and moved to the United Kingdom for five years, in Nottingham.
In the Midlands, he attended the English school of violin making in Newark on Trent and obtained his diploma in violin and guitar making in 2004. This well-travelled musician moved to Berlin, where he became a restorer of prestigious instruments. But he wanted to return to making instruments. In 2008, he opened his workshop in Brussels where he specialises in the maintenance, making and adjustment of instruments. He returned to his native Brittany in 2016, near Quessoy, where he liked to listen to himself in the chapel of the Château de La Houssaye, whose acoustics are excellent.
At the end of 2019, he moved to the historic centre of Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor). It is in this workshop that he finds the balance between form and materials, between listening to his musical clients and perceiving their sensations. “But the great Italian instruments of the 16th to 18th centuries, which I regularly adjust, remain a major source of inspiration for me”. Tanguy Fraval makes, adjusts and maintains violins, violas and cellos.