BIOGRAPHY
Winner of more than 40 international prizes, Francisco Luís is one of the most acclaimed Portuguese guitarists of his generation.
Francisco Luís was born in Caldas da Rainha on July 22nd, 1998. He started his studies at the age of 10 at the Conservatory of Caldas da Rainha with Professor Luís Roldão. After studying for 5 years in his hometown, he took the entrance examinations to the Music School of the National Conservatory in Lisbon, where he was admitted and began studies with Eurico Pereira. In addition to his focus in solo guitar, Francisco had chamber music classes with Júlio Guerreiro and Paulo Amorim, and studied basso continuo with Helena Raposo. In terms of music theory, Francisco learned analysis and compositional techniques with the composers Daniel Schvetz and Eurico Carrapatoso.
In 2015 he played the emblematic Concierto de Aranjuez by J. Rodrigo with the symphonic orchestra from the National Conservatory of Lisbon, in the Cinema/ Theater Sao Jorge.
After finishing his studies in Lisbon, Francisco Luís was accepted at the Maastricht Conservatorium, where he began his bachelor’s degree with Carlo Marchione and technical classes with Roman Krejici. After finishing his studies in Maastricht with distinction (10/10), Francisco then moved to Den Haag, where he completed his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory, with Professor Zoran Dukic.
Francisco has performed in more than 10 different countries, including some renowned halls of Europe, such as Musikverein (Wien), Casa da Música (Porto), Palácio da Ajuda (Lisbon), Parkstad Limburg Theaters (Heerlen), and more.
Francisco Luis has won awards at many international competitions, including 20 first prizes. Among these, Francisco received 1st prize at Iserlohn International Guitar Festival, 1st prize in Baltic Int. Guitar Festival, , 1st prize in Florida Guitar Foundation, 1st prize at Aalborg Int. Guitar Festival, 1st at Albania Int. Guitar Festival, etc. Francisco has also very recently been awarded the 2nd prize (1st not awarded) in the renowned Koblenz International Guitar Competition (Hubbert Kappel).
In 202o, Francisco became a member of EuroStrings, the first Portuguese guitarist to be a part of this program. During this project, Francisco has toured around Europe, where he performed solo concerts, gave masterclasses and played in several musical activities, attending some of the most important festivals of the classical guitar community.
Francisco Luís made several professional recordings in acclaimed studios, notably Siccas Guitars, in Karlsruhe (Germany) and Galerie de Luthiers in Lyon (France). Francisco is also an official artist on the channel Resonant Connections Media (Netherlands), owned by Michael Ibsen (Canada) and Steven den Toom (Netherlands), where he not only recorded solo but also his own arrangements of pieces by Fauré and Schubert (The Hague
Guitar Duo).
Francisco’s performing skills and deep interpretations have touched many diverse audiences, presenting a wide variety of styles in repertoire, showcasing fresh features such as classical improvisation, arrangements, and compositions of his own. Carlo Marchione, renowned Italian guitarist, has stated "Francisco embodies all the qualities expected of a great musician, not least the ability, impossible to learn (but the result of a precious and
rare natural talent) to perform his music with a touching sense of inevitability and naturalness”.
Photo by Jouyan Tarzaban