MARCOS VINICIUS – Interprete, compositore, didatta.
Un incontro particolarmente originale e unico, con la chitarra, all’età di 7 anni (ne resta abbagliato osservandola “appesa” alla corda di un bazar che vende di tutto, a Congonhas – cittadina brasiliana che gli dà i natali, Patrimonio dell’Unesco, nella regione del Minhas Gerais- ) segna indelebilmente il suo destino di artista. E lo fa oggi universalmente riconoscere, nel mondo, come il “Virtuoso dal suono alato”.
Precoce talento del Conservatorio di Minas Gerais, perfezionatosi alla Civica di Milano “Claudio Abbado” con Aldo Minella, ha affinato con Leo Soares ed Henrique Pinto il dono di essere tutt’uno con lo strumento , arricchendo il suo bagaglio artistico con Ruggero Chiesa. Il brillante esordio di carriera come giovanissimo vincitore del prestigioso concorso internazionale “Villa Lobos” e, successivamente, come miglior allievo di Oscar Ghiglia presso l’Accademia Chigiana di Siena, gli consente di iniziare ben presto la sua carriera internazionale, tenendo concerti in quasi tutti i Continenti e in molti Paesi: Asia, America, Unione Sovietica, Spagna, Serbia e Montenegro, Mongolia, Ucraina, Austria, Regno Unito, Israele , Finlandia, Turchia, Perù, Cipro, Canada, Polonia, Italia, Armenia, Croazia, Stato Vaticano, e – ovviamente – il Brasile. In Cina, dove è il Consulente Artistico della Accademia di Xi’An, il più prestigioso istituto barocco di musica, e dove è stato uno dei pochi artisti a esibirsi in location quali: la Biblioteca Nazionale, l’Università di Pechino e il Music Concert Hall di Ningbo. Tra i luoghi più suggestivi dove ha tenuto recital, la Wigmore Hall di Londra, al St.John Smith’s Square (che ospitava spesso Julian Bream) e il Palazzo centrale delle Nazioni Unite, a New York con la presenza del suo Segretario Generale Ban-Ki-Moon.
Grazie alla sua originalità compositiva, per coro, per strumenti a fiato e ad arco, così come per gruppi di musica da camera – duo e quartetti – è stato insignito di premi come il “Bolgheri Melody” (ricevuto insieme a Gianna Nannini e all’ex presidente della Repubblica, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi) e “REA RadiotelevisioniEuropeeAssociate” , durante il famoso Festival di Sanremo. Nel 2010, come testimonial ONU per la FAO, offre sue performances in Gerico – la città più antica del mondo, in occasione dei suoi 10.000 anni di età; e, successivamente, a New York, nel Palazzo centrale delle Nazioni Unite, di fronte al Segretario di Stato Ban Ki Moon e al Direttore Generale della FAO, Jacques Diouf. Il premio “Dono dell’Umanità” (ricevuto insieme al cardinale Dionigi Tettamanzi) per i suoi concerti a sostegno dei diritti umani nel mondo, è spesso presidente di giuria in molti concorsi internazionali, strumentali, corali, e artistico-culturali. Insieme a Franco Zefirelli, ricevi il “Premio Padre Pio” sempre per il fatto di sostenere attività umanitarie nel mondo. E’ stato il Presidente dell’Accademia di Chitarra Classica e ha ricoperto l’incarico di dir. artistico dei Corsi e docente Pre-accademico e di Alto Perfezionamento dell’Accademia Internazionale di Musica, Arti e Cinema di Roma. E’ stato invitato a rappresentare, con la sua Arte, il Brasile alla EXPO 2015. Tra i suoi estimatori oltre a Joaquin Rodrigo, Julian Bream, Dan Siegel, Riccardo Chailly, Ennio Morricone “in memorian”. Ha ricevuto nel 2023 la Medaglia “Golden Angel” da curia romana per il suo impegno nell’aiuto, attraverso la sua musica, ai piu bisognosi essendo ricevuto da Papa Francesco, nel Vaticano. Nel 2024 ha ricevuto dalla Casa Museo Giuliani di Bisceglie sotto la direzione di Nicola Giuliani (l’unico erede di questo grande caposcuola italiano) la Targa “Mauro Giuliani” alla carriera per la sua divulgazione dell’opera del riferito autore. A invito della Southern Illinoys University ha realizzato masters, conferencias dove ha parlato della spiritualità dell’Arte e da Realtà Parallela dei Suoni e un memorabile concerto nella Music Hall di questa importante università americana. Recentemente ha ricevuto dalla Southern University of Illinois – USA – il “Certificato di Riconoscimento” alla carriera, per le sue capacità musicali e per le sue caratteristiche umane.
“…capace di una rara perfezione”
Targstung Journal – Austria
“…Marcos Vinicius ridefinisce le regole di ogni genere musicale”
Dean L. Farley – USA
“…Marcos Vinicius accarezza suoni e frasi musicali, con leggerezza onirica e dialogica”
Antonio Brena – Rivista Amadeus – Italia
“…Musica e tecnica, in Marcos Vinicius, non si oppongono”
Gian Mario Benzing – Corriere della Sera
“…un musico molto naturale, intelligente e caloroso”
Oscar Ghiglia – Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena – Italia
“…di estrema sensibilità e di altissimo livello tecnico”
Jorg Sumemmeier – Pres. della International Guitar Association – Germania
“…Marcos Vinicius, un virtuoso della chitarra che sembra…Lizt”
Mario Bertasa “L’Eco di Bergamo” – Italia
“…oltre il suo virtuosismo, Marcos Vinicius offre al nostro ascolto i poetici suoni nascosti tra le corde di questo meraviglioso strumento”
Riccardo Chailly – Direttore della Royal Concertgbouw di Amsterdam – Holland
“… C’è un breve tratto del suo percorso in cui Vinicius passa non solo attraverso la musica di altri autori, ma dentro di sé. Tutto è poetico, nobile, nel suo fraseggio eloquente, nella sua fantasia timbrica … ” – “Con il suo nuovo CD VIOLA VIOLAR Vinicius potrebbe infiammare Pfilzner o Hindemith: figurarsi noi! Nel suo album c’è una timbrica così caldo e affascinante di infiammare e exalte nostro sentire “.
Gian Mario Benzing – Corriere della Sera, Italia
“L’artista ci colpisce principalmente dalla sua limpidezza fraseggio e la qualità del suono, che non è un obiettivo facile sulle sei corde. La bellezza del suo “tocco” crea atmosfera, colore, calore, romanticismo, e la sua musica va dritto al tuo cuore “.
Pino Pignata – Famiglia Cristiana, Italia
“Il brasiliano Marcos Vinicius, il più famoso solista virtuoso della nuova generazione internazionale di chitarristi, presenta in ” Dedicatoria “, con gentilezza e con l’arte del piacere, diciotto opere che, idealmente seguono il filo della vita, brani che legano Paetorius a Sanz , Borges a Rodrigo, Brouwer a Granados. “
Riflections – Revista del Bose Club
“… Gusti raffinati europei, un appeal da lord inglese, ma…non lasciatevi ingannare dalle apparenze : durante le sue performance, come travolto da un incantesimo, arriva a mostrare la sua sensibilità brasiliana, come una tavolozza sonora che affascina gli ascoltatori i quali difficilmente possono riaffiorare alla realtà.”
Fabio Germinaro – Musibrasil
“… Un potere unico nelle sue mani: attraverso la musica, vi porta via in un sogno, lasciando dietro di sé il mondo che ci circonda.”
Giornale dell’Alto Milanese
“… Egli offre ricchissime e affascinanti peculiarità timbriche. Tutto ciò che suona è mosso dal suo personale sound fresco e affascinante, che mostra una profonda cura nel creare particolari sfumature nel fraseggio eloquente. Perché Vinicius sembra essere, prima di tutto, un ballerino appassionato. “
Corriere della Sera (ViviMilano, Classical Records)
“… È del tutto impossibile trovare in lui alcuna arroganza o capricci da prima donna, ma solo la modestia di chi sta facendo musica con Amore, con Piacere e con rispetto, al solo scopo di entrare in un’amicizia inviolabile con il silenzio.”
Davide Ielmini – La Prealpina
“… Attraverso la sua tecnica consumata, Marcos utilizza la musica come linguaggio per stabilire relazioni, in totale fusione con il suo strumento, annullando la sensazione di quel limite invisibile che spesso si solleva tra l’esecutore e l’ascoltatore.”
Marco Cinque – Il Manifesto
“… Può trasmettere la straordinaria sensibilità dei compositori brasiliani con la sua scansione ritmica, il suo fraseggio, la luminosità del linguaggio della sua chitarra, la sua capacità di comunicare con la grande musica: Vinicius è un dono unico per la umanità”.
Alessandro Colombo, scrittore e musicologo
MARCOS VINICIUS – Performer, Composer, Educator.
A particularly original and unique encounter with the guitar at the age of eight (he was dazzled by it as he saw it “hanging” from a string in a bazaar that sold everything, in Congonhas – a Brazilian town where he was born, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Minas Gerais region) indelibly marked his destiny as an artist. Today, this has led to his universal recognition around the world as the “Virtuoso with the winged sound.”
A precocious talent of the Conservatory of Minas Gerais, he further refined his skills at the Civica School of Milan “Claudio Abbado” with Aldo Minella. He later honed, with Leo Soares and Henrique Pinto, his gift of becoming one with the instrument, enriching his artistic background with Ruggero Chiesa.
His brilliant early debut as a very young winner of the prestigious international “Villa-Lobos” competition, and later as the best student of Oscar Ghiglia at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, allowed him to quickly launch his international career. He has performed concerts across nearly all continents and in many countries: Asia, the Americas, the Soviet Union, Spain, Serbia and Montenegro, Mongolia, Ukraine, Austria, the United Kingdom, Israel, Finland, Turkey, Peru, Cyprus, Canada, Poland, Italy, Armenia, Croatia, Vatican City – and, of course, Brazil, his native country. There, he left a significant artistic legacy by founding and directing the first guitar magazine, Violão America, as well as the group Belo Horizonte Guitar Ensemble.
For over a decade, his regular tours (concerts and masterclasses) in China have become a hallmark of his career. There, he serves as Artistic Consultant to the Xi’An Academy, one of the most prestigious baroque music institutions, and has been among the few artists to perform in venues such as the National Library, Peking University, and the Ningbo Music Concert Hall.
He is frequently cited in academic theses and university research as one of the greatest musicians Brazil has offered to the world and is regarded as a key reference in international guitar performance. Among the most prestigious venues where he has performed are London’s Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square (which often hosted Julian Bream), and the central headquarters of the United Nations in New York.
The historic publishing house Carrara (distributed worldwide by Schott Music) dedicated to him the series Marcos Vinicius Guitar Collection, which includes numerous transcriptions (Telemann, Rossini, Bach, Handel, Weiss, Sanz, Paganini, Pernambuco), as well as many original compositions and technical guitar treatises. In Italy, he collaborates with publishers such as Pongo Classica, Rugginenti Editore, Preludio Musica, and Sonitus; in Canada with Doz Productions; and in Spain with Periferia Sheet Music.
Thanks to his originality as a composer – not only for guitar but also for wind and string instruments, as well as chamber ensembles such as duos and quartets – he has received awards such as the “Bolgheri Melody” (shared with Gianna Nannini and former President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi) and the “REA Radiotelevisioni Europee Associate,” awarded during the famous Sanremo Festival.
In 1992, following a memorable performance of the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, he became one of the few guitarists personally invited by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo to his summer residence. Shortly thereafter, thanks to that performance, he was named “Soloist of the Year.” In 2004, in Milan, he was the featured artist in a concert mass organized by the Brazilian Cultural Institute in honor of his compatriot Ayrton Senna, who had passed away prematurely.
In 2010, as a United Nations testimonial for the FAO, he gave performances in Jericho – the oldest city in the world – on the occasion of its 10,000th anniversary; and subsequently in New York, at the United Nations headquarters, in the presence of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.
On the occasion of World Food Day, he was again invited as a special guest alongside Dee Dee Bridgewater during the ceremony appointing the new Goodwill Ambassador, Jeremy Irons, in the presence of Carl Lewis, Carla Fracci, Gina Lollobrigida, Pietro Mennea, Nino Benvenuti, Céline Dion, and Roberto Baggio – artists with whom he supported the FAO’s televised media campaign for drought relief projects in the Horn of Africa.
Among his most important orchestral collaborations are those with the Pernambuco Symphony Orchestra, the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra, the Italian Symphony Orchestra, and the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances in major Brazilian cities such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Olinda, Belém, and Florianópolis. He was also acclaimed in Turkey at the prestigious Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul.
More recently, fascinated by the expressive colors of the human voice (as a tenor in his youth and now a charismatic bass), he composed an Ave Maria for mixed choir – one that also reached the attention of Pope Francis – selected as a representative work at the prestigious International Choral Festival “Vicktoria” in Kyiv. This was followed by other sacred vocal works, including a complete Mass, a Salve Regina, an Anima Christi, a Magnificat, and others.
Awarded the title “Gift of Humanity” (received alongside Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi) for his concerts in support of human rights around the world, he frequently serves as a jury president in numerous international competitions – instrumental, choral, and artistic-cultural. Together with Franco Zeffirelli, he also received the Padre Pio Prize for his support of humanitarian initiatives worldwide.
His output includes countless publications (educational works, compositions, and transcriptions), six CDs as a performer, and one as a composer, entirely dedicated to his works and recorded by musicians of various nationalities. His most recent release is the CD Over the Time, focused entirely on his guitar works (including the title track), presented in Brazil by Moacyr Teixeira Neto.
He served as President of the Classical Guitar Academy and held the position of Artistic Director of Courses, as well as Pre-Academic and Advanced Studies instructor at the International Academy of Music, Arts, and Cinema in Rome. He was invited to represent Brazil with his art at Expo 2015. Among his admirers, in addition to Joaquín Rodrigo, are Julian Bream, Dan Siegel, Riccardo Chailly, and Ennio Morricone (in memoriam).
In 2023, he received the “Golden Angel” medal from the Roman Curia for his commitment to helping the most vulnerable through his music, and was received by Pope Francis at the Vatican. In 2024, he was awarded the “Mauro Giuliani” lifetime achievement plaque by the Casa Museo Giuliani in Bisceglie, under the direction of Nicola Giuliani (the sole heir of this great Italian master), in recognition of his promotion of the composer’s work.
At the invitation of Southern Illinois University, he delivered masterclasses and lectures on the spirituality of art and the concept of sound as a parallel reality, culminating in a memorable concert at the university’s Music Hall. He was awarded the “Certificate of Recognition” by Southern Illinois University (USA) for his musical abilities and his human qualities.
“…capable of rare perfection”
Targstung Journal – Austria
“…Marcos Vinicius redefines the rules of every musical genre”
Dean L. Farley – USA
“…Marcos Vinicius caresses sounds and musical phrases with a dreamlike lightness and a sense of dialogue”
Antonio Brena – Amadeus Magazine – Italy
“…In Marcos Vinicius, music and technique do not stand in opposition”
Gian Mario Benzing – Corriere della Sera
“…a very natural, intelligent, and warm musician”
Oscar Ghiglia – Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena – Italy
“…of extraordinary sensitivity and the highest technical level”
Jorg Summemeier – President of the International Guitar Association – Germany
“…Marcos Vinicius, a guitar virtuoso who seems… like Liszt”
Mario Bertasa – L’Eco di Bergamo – Italy
“…beyond his virtuosity, Marcos Vinicius offers our listening the poetic sounds hidden among the strings of this wonderful instrument”
Riccardo Chailly – Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam – Netherlands
“…There is a brief stretch in his journey where Vinicius passes not only through the music of other composers, but into himself. Everything is poetic, noble, in his eloquent phrasing and his timbral imagination…With his new CD Viola Violar, Vinicius could set Pfitzner or Hindemith ablaze—let alone us! His album contains a tone color so warm and captivating that it ignites and elevates our very sensibility.”
Gian Mario Benzing – Corriere della Sera, Italy
“The artist impresses us above all with the clarity of his phrasing and the quality of his sound—no easy achievement on six strings. The beauty of his ‘touch’ creates atmosphere, color, warmth, and romanticism, and his music goes straight to your heart.”
Pino Pignata – Famiglia Cristiana, Italy
“The Brazilian Marcos Vinicius, the most renowned virtuoso soloist of the new international generation of guitarists, presents in Dedicatoria, with elegance and the art of pleasure, eighteen works that ideally follow the thread of life—pieces that connect Praetorius to Sanz, Borges to Rodrigo, Brouwer to Granados.”
Riflections Directo – Revista del Bose Club
“…Refined European tastes, the appeal of an English lord—but do not be deceived by appearances: during his performances, as if swept away by an enchantment, he reveals his Brazilian sensibility, like a sonic palette that captivates listeners, who find it difficult to return to reality.”
Fabio Germinaro – Musibrasil
“…A unique power in his hands: through music, he carries you into a dream, leaving behind the world that surrounds us.”
Giornale dell’Alto Milanese
“…He offers richly fascinating timbral nuances. Everything he plays is driven by his personal, fresh, and captivating sound, revealing a deep care in shaping subtle shades within his eloquent phrasing. For Vinicius seems, above all, to be a passionate dancer.”
Corriere della Sera (ViviMilano, Classical Records)
“…It is entirely impossible to find in him any arrogance or prima donna whims—only the modesty of someone making music with Love, with Pleasure, and with respect, with the sole aim of entering into an unbreakable friendship with silence.”
Davide Ielmini – La Prealpina
“…Through his refined technique, Marcos uses music as a language to build relationships, in total fusion with his instrument, dissolving that invisible boundary that often stands between performer and listener.”
Marco Cinque – Il Manifesto
“…He can convey the extraordinary sensitivity of Brazilian composers through his rhythmic articulation, his phring, the luminosity of his guitar’s language, and his ability to communicate with great music: Vinicius is a unique gift to humanity.”
Alessandro Colombo – writer and musicologist
