Young Artist Platform 2024-25
Awardees
New players. New music. New experiences
IGF is pleased to announce this year’s YAP awardees.
Congratulations to all of them and we look forward to working with them in the 2024-25 season.
Duo Cantelina
Praised as “such an amazing talent”, Cantelina are a dynamic vocal and guitar duo comprising of mezzo-soprano Sophie Clarke and classical guitarist Ravi Nathwani. They have both just
completed their masters at the Royal Northern College of Music and during this time they
received First Place in the RNCM Bessie Cronshaw/Frost Brownson Song Cycle Competition.
Cantelina perform in a selection of concerts all over the UK and were recently invited to perform by the Consul of Spain for the National Day of Spain. Other performances include a recital for Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre and pre/post-concert performances for BBC Philharmonic and The Hallé, both at Bridgewater Hall.
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”.
Luke Tyrell
Luke Tyrrell is a multi-award winning classical guitarist from Reading, England.Combining knowledge from all genres and varieties of guitar playing, and a specialinterest in underappreciated and underperformed works, Luke strives to offeraudiences diverse and unique recitals.
Luke has performed at many prestigious venues and events around the UnitedKingdom, including at Helly’s International Guitar Festival, The Spanish Embassy,The Royal Greenwich Guitar Festival, The Old Royal Navel Chapel, and Charterhouse. Above all, in 2021, whilst still an undergraduate, Luke was honoured to winthe Allison Stephens prize for plucked strings.
Currently presenting a recital program exploring the music of early 20th centurySpain and sharing the stories of composers who lived through that period, Luke ishonoured to be a member of the International Guitar Foundation’s Young ArtistProgram for the 2024-25 season.
Luke is proud to be supported by several generous organisations, including HelpMusicians, The Greenwich Bluecoat Foundation and the Henry WoodAccommodation Trust. He is currently performing on a 2023‘Domenico Montagnana’guitar by the German master luthier, Otto Rauch.
Wales Guitar Duo
Established in 2020, the Wales Guitar Duo is formed of Welsh classical guitarists, Cai Charlesand 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 SoloString 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 gavethe UK première of the Dos Dalias concerto by Gerardo Tamez as a soloist during the WorldHarp Congress 2022 in St David’s Hall, Wales.
