Marcelo Montes

Event information

Marcelo Montes is a young virtuoso pianist from southern Portugal. His playing is both exhilaratingly close to the edge and elegantly tender, captivating and astounding audiences wherever he plays with an amazing repertoire (e.g. Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov……). His focus and dedication are both incredible and inspiring. To be immersed in his playing is truly magical. Simply, Marcelo is a musically imaginative and technical maestro of the piano.

Marcelo is 33yrs and lives in the Portuguese countryside 20km from the town of Tavira with his aunt's family and his grandmother who is 100 years old. There are only 2 buses a day, one in the morning and one returning in the evening. Most days he commutes to the Ingreja da Misericodia in the centre of Tavira where he practices and composes music on the church's Bechstein grand piano. Next to the piano there is a donation box, and visitors can listen to him play for as long as they like. Marcelo includes many Portuguese composers in his repertoire, and on occasion, he performs their music along with his own in public settings around the Algarve.

Marcelo has visited Cornwall twice before, performing his own and other classical composers’ works to sell out audiences at venues in the west of the county. March 2025 sees his return to Cornwall for a two week tour of the Duchy, including an afternoon concert at Calstock Arts. This time he will be shining a light on Portuguese Classical Music and performing some of his own breathtaking virtuoso compositions.

Listen: https://youtu.be/-O3r74p4AmA?si=sFLTZ3WJFrwKpqoh
Listen: https://youtu.be/KglfpMSaa2Q?si=_RiJaYxblOjD-_8j