Fábio Fernandes is a young Portuguese classical guitarist and lutenist based in London. Winner of the 2nd Prize in the 21st Ivor Mairants Guitar Award 2021 and 3rd Prize in the Concorso di Chitarra "Gaetano Marziali" 2021, Fábio is a versatile and confident performer. Performing regularly in Europe and in the UK, recent highlights include recitals at the Barbican Centre, St. James’s Church Piccadilly, Milton Court Music Hall in London and a concert as soloist in Carulli’s Concerto in G major for Flute, Guitar and Orchestra with the Orquestra Con Spirito in Portugal.
Fábio began studying the classical guitar with Francisco Gomes in his hometown, Viana do Castelo. He then moved to London in 2014 to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he completed both his Bachelor and Masters Degrees under the guidance of Robert Brightmore, David Miller, Graham Devine and Jørgen Skogmo, before being invited to be a Junior Fellow there in 2020-2021. Throughout his studies at the Guildhall, Fábio was generously supported by the Adele Kramar-Chappell Award, Help Musicians UK, the Henry Wood Trust and the Charity of Mary Barnes.
Fábio started playing the lute and theorbo in 2015 with David Miller and James Johnstone. Since then, he has performed alongside the members of the Academy of Ancient Music at the 2019 Deal Festival and participated in the 2019 London Handel Festival during the Guildhall Cantata Project. Fábio was also invited by Dame Emma Kirkby to join her project Dowland Works.
Furthermore, Fábio is highly engaged with music writing and collaborates regularly with young composers. He notably premiered “Tell me again the music of that Tale” by Daniel Davis (2019/20 composer in residency at LPO’s Young Composers Scheme and Portuguese representative in the World New Music Days 2020) at the Milton Court Concert Hall. Upcoming projects include the premiere of composer Pedro Finisterra’s microtonal piece for guitar quartet “The Fable of the Pilgrim”.
Fábio is currently on the process of recording and releasing his debut album, “Serenata Portuguesa”, in which he explores Portuguese music through the rediscovery of forgotten and lost works, new commissions and new arrangements.
Beside his performing activities, Fábio is already a highly sought-after guitar teacher. He was invited to give classes and lectures in England and in Portugal. He has his own private studio in London where he teaches children as well as adults with a 100% success rate at the ABRSM exams (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). Finally, he leads ensemble and individual guitar lessons at the DaCapo Music Foundation in London. (For guitar lessons, you can contact Fábio through the contact page of this website.)