Vinicius Frate Paranhos
Contrabajo
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Natural de Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, comenzó sus estudios musicales en el piano a los 6 años de edad. En el 2004 inició sus estudios de contrabajo con el maestro Claudio Alves con quien estudió hasta el 2008. Después continuó sus estudios con el maestro Massimo Giorgi en el Conservatorio Nacional de Santa Cecilia de Roma.

Ha tomado cursos y clases maestras con diversos maestros como: Miloslav Gajdos, Jeff Bradetich, Thierry Barbé, Sandrino Santoro, Franco Petracchi, Alberto Bocini y Giuseppe Ettorre.   Integró del 2006 al 2008 la Orquestra Sinfónica Brasileira Jovem(OSB-Jovem). Ha ganado el "Concurso Nacional de Cordas Prof Paulo Bosísio" (2007) y el "1o Concurso Nacional para Contrabaixo Sandrino Santoro"(2009).

Edvany Klebia Silva
Cello
Joao Pessoa, Brazil

Edvany Klebia Silva, originally from Joao Pessoa, Brasil, began her formal music studies in 1999 with Francieudo Torres (Brasil). She has participated in the following Brasilian orchestras: Children’s Orchestra of Paraíba, Youth Orchestra of University of Paraíba and Youth Orchestra of State of Paraíba. Edvany is a regular guest artist with many international festivals such as the V Festival Eleazar de Carvalho, 15th International Festival of Music and Colonial Brazilian Ancient Music, I Festival of Santa Catarina, II Festival de Santa Catarina, Rio International Cello Encounter XI, XII Rio International Cello Encounter, XIII International River Encauter Cello, 38th International Festival of Campos do Jordao and most recently, YOA Orchestra of Americas.

Ms. Silva is the grand prize winner of the 10th National Competition for Strings Paulo Bosisio (Class C), 11 National Competition for Strings Paulo Bosisio (Class B), the National Youth Chambers (3rd place with the Camerata Brasílica) in Brazil and can be heard on exclusive CD recordings of "Sivuca, the Poet of Sound" and "Brazilêra" with the Camerata Brasilica Chamber Orchestra. Edvany recently moved to Winnipeg to continue her studies with Dr. Minna Rose Chung at the University of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music.

Bruno Lourensetto, a native of Itu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been a member of YOA Orchestra of the Americas since 2009, during which he has performed in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Canada and USA, including his debut at Carnegie Hall.  He also has appeared in the trumpet sections of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, and Uninorte Orchestra (Paraguay), among others.

Bruno has received several prizes, including first place at the Chicago Brass Festival and William T. Gower Competition. He was a Semifinalist of the National Trumpet Competition (USA) at the solo and ensemble divisions, and received awards such as The Most Valuable Brass Performer from the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Best Chamber Musician at the University of Sao Paulo.

Besides his orchestral activities, Bruno has been featured as a soloist in front of the USM Symphony Orchestra and the Itu Philharmonic. He was a member of the Southern Arts Brass Quintet, and is a founding member of the USP Brass Quintet, which performed in Brazil, Italy and Switzerland. Bruno taught trumpet at the Assatemec school of music for low-income children in Itu, Brazil and was the trumpet teaching assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi. Bruno Lourensetto holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Sao Paulo and Master’s from the University of Southern of Mississippi. Currently, Bruno is working on his Performance Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Fabio Machado
Violoncello
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Fabio Machado was born in Natal - Rio Grande do Norte. He began his musical studies at the age of 12, studying guitar at the Music School of the Church. One year later, he began studying cello with Professor Ailson Saraiva, and then continued on to study at the School of Music of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, where he took classes with Professor Faisal Hussein (Conservatory of Geneva).

In 2002 Mr. Machado participated in the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho, attending several master classes for solo cello and chamber music. The following year, Fabio was named Solo Cello of the Festival, and in 2004 won the acclaimed 1st place prize of the Young Soloist award. In 2007 he moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, continuing his cello studies with Professor Fabio Presgrave (Juilliard School of Music). Fabio currently studies at Sao Paulo with Professor Rodrigo Andrade (Juilliard School of Music). Fabio has played for acclaimed musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Clive Greensmith (Tokyo String Quartet), Juarez Johnson, Rebecca Patterson (Antares Quartet), Anatoly Krastev, Claudio Jaffe, Loercher Bernhard (Stuttgart Philharmonic), Antonio Del Claro and others.

Iniciou seus estudos musicais tocando violino aos 14 anos, na Orquestra Sinfonica da Juventude do Salvador, onde atuou como spalla, integrou a Orquestra de Câmera da UFBA. Aos 17 anos iniciou seus estudos de viola, onde integrou um quarteto de cordas.

Em 2007 passou a integrar o NEOJIBA (Núcleos Estaduais de Orquestra Juvenil e Infantil da Bahia), onde atua como monitora e 1ª viola da Orquestra Sinfonica Juvenil 2 de Julho e YOBA (Orquestra Jovem da Bahia). Em 2007/08 foi a Venezuela onde participou como estagiária no FESNOJIV (Sistema Nacional de Orquestras Juvenis e Infantis da Venezuela), em 2008 participou de um intercâmbio com Universidade  de Stavager na Noruega, onde teve aula de viola com o Wouter Raubenheimer, e de Música de Câmara com Ilmari Ropkins.

Em 2010 participou do FEMUSC (Festival de Música de Santa Catarina) onde teve masterclasses com Ori Kam (ISR), Paul Biss (EUA), Antulio Duboy (Venezuela), Peter Pas (CAN). Participou do Seminário Internacional de Música da UFBA, onde teve masterclasse com Renato Bandel (SP), tem feitos vários concertos com a
OSBA (Orquestra Sinfonica da Bahia) com grandes maestros como Christopher Warren-Green, Ricardo Castro, Domingo Hindoyan, Manoel Lopes Gomes e como músico-camerista da OSBA onde teve a oportunidade de atuar ao lado do renomado flautista Michel Bellavance (Suíça).

Tem atuado em grandes salas de Concerto  , Grande e Pequeno Teatro da Sociedade de Cultura Artítica em Jaraguá do Sul-SC, Sala São Paulo-SP, Auditório Claudio Santoro e Praça do Capivari no Festival de Inverno de Campos do Jordão-SP,Europa, Queen Elizabeth Hall em Londres e no Centro Cultural de Belém em Portugal. Atualmente tem aulas com o violista do Quarteto Vermeer Richard Young.

Brazilian double bassist Patricia Silva holds a bachelor’s degree from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil and a Master of Music degree from University of Southern Mississippi (USM), USA.  Ms. Silva has received many awards throughout her career, such as first place in: the Paulo Bosisio Strings Competition, Furnas Geracao Musical, William T. Gower Competition (first bassist to ever win this competition) and XIV Young Soloists of UFMG; Second place in: the Instrumental Music for Young Players; and Honorable Mention in: the Young Soloists of Bahia Symphony. Ms. Silva was also a semifinalist in the X Sphinx Competition, USA.

As a member of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, Ms. Silva has played in several venues in the U.S including Carnegie Hall. While working on her degree at the University of Southern Mississippi, Ms. Silva was responsible for its orchestra's outreach program introducing classical music to schools, nursing homes and similar facilities. She was also a cello and double bass instructor at the Hattiesburg Public Schools. 

Patricia Silva is currently working on her doctoral degree in Double Bass Performance and Pedagogy at The University of Iowa, where she is the recipient of the prestigious Iowa Performance Fellowship.
 

Eduardo Swerts
Cello
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

A native of Belo Horizonte, the Brazilian cellist Eduardo Swerts is currently studying Chamber Music at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany. He holds an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music at the Musikhochschule Münster, and a Bachelor of Music at the State University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Eduardo has regularly performed with orchestras in Brazil, Germany, and at the Festival delle Nazioni in Italy. As soloist, he played at the Algarve’s Festival of Music in Portugal and at the Solisten Forum in Münster, Germany, as well as the première of Rufo Herrera’s “Dos Pampa Sur” with the Ouro Preto Chamber Orchestra.

His Duo with the Japanese pianist Risa Adachi won the first prize in the last edition of the Münster Chamber Music Competition, which was then performed in Germany, Greece, and Portugal.  They also performed at the Westdeutsche Rundfunk Musikfest in 2009, which was  recorded and broadcast in Germany.

Eduardo attended masterclasses in different countries with Antonio Meneses, Maria Kliegel, Peter Bruns, Márcio Carneiro, and others.  Since 2008, he holds scholarships from the KAAD and the Yehudi Menuhin - Live Music Now. He teaches at the Musikschule des Emslandes and at the Steinfurt-Borghorst Youth Orchestra.

Priscila Vargas Pellanda
Violin
Curitiba, Brazil

Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Priscila Vargas started her violin studies with Moema Meyer in her hometown. At the age of 14 she came under the tutelage of Paulo Bosísio in Rio de Janeiro. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Performance (violin) at the age of 20 at Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná (Curitiba) as a student of Marco Damm. From this institution she also has a post-degree in Chamber Music and Musical Analysis, completed with the highest marks. Since 2009 she has been a student of Thomas Füri at Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel (Basle, Switzerland), where she is finishing her Master of Arts in Musical Performance for violin. She has also taken masterclasses with renowned violinists from Brazil and other countries, such as Igor Ozim, Régis Pasquier, Elisa Fukuda and others.

She holds prizes from well-known competitions in her home country; among them are two first prizes at Paulo Bosísio Strings Competition (Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil) and the first prize at Jovens Instrumentistas do Brasil competition (Piracicaba, SP, Brazil), where she earned the prize for the best performance of Brazilian music. Her experiences as a soloist include performances with the Symphony Orchestra of Paraná, the Symphony Orchestra of Bahia, the Chamber Orchestra of Curitiba, the Fribourg Young Orchestra and the PRO-Orchester Basel, among others. As an orchestral musician she has performed with several ensembles in Brazil, Switzerland and Germany. From 2004 to 2009 she played as assistant concertmaster in the Symphony Orchestra of Paraná and in 2009 became the concertmaster and rehearsal director of the Chamber Orchestra of Curitiba. Currently, in addition to her studies, Priscila is a member of the Orchestre Symphonique du Canton du Jura in Switzerland and plays actively as a chamber musician.