04 CELLO MINDSCAPES

Miguel Rocha is the winner of the 1st "Virtuosité" Prize in Lausanne, as well as the 1st Prize in the "Concours International de Musique UFAM". Miguel is a versatile and well-rounded musician who has performed extensively as a soloist - in various musical styles and periods. He is a lover of contemporary music and the Baroque period, with a special interest in music by Portuguese composers. He also stands out as a chamber musician and pedagogue.Miguel received a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 1983-85, which took him to study in Paris and Prague. He continued his training at the Maastricht Conservatoire and the Basel Academy of Music as an SEC scholarship holder. Miguel Rocha has been a member of the Duo Contracello since 1993, with whom he has recorded numerous CDs. Also with Trio Athena, he recorded a CD in France containing trios by Debussy and Beethoven. In Baroque cello, with the Avondano Ensemble, he participated in the edition and recording of unpublished Portuguese repertoire from the 18th century - The four sonatas and two duos by João Baptista André Avondano, with the Stradivarius "King of Portugal" cello, and in the recording of a second CD, with the Sonata Trios by Pedro António Avondano, with the 18th century Galrão cello.He has been described by international critics as: "displaying an energy of dramatic intensity, dark and sober" - Sonograma Magazine in Barcelona; "keeping that sense of free rhapsody alongside poetic meditation" (World of Classical Musik - Planet Hugill)He has recently recorded two CDs, entitled Guillaume Lekeu - Music for Violin, Cello and Piano, (which was broadcast by Radio France/France Musique in Paris) and Ernest Chausson/Eugène Ysaÿe - Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (CD featured on Radio France/France Musique in October 2022 and awarded Le Clic - top distinction - by Classique News in Paris) respectively for the Danish label - "Brilliant Classics" and the Dutch label - "Et'cetera". He is currently Professor of Cello at the Escola Superior de Castelo Branco - ESART, a member of the Duo Contracello, the Duo Sigma, the Ensembles Avondano and Tesseract and is frequently invited to numerous national and international Masterclasses.

Angela Tosheva is a Bulgarian pianist with a wide ranging of repertoire. After her academic education in the Bulgarian State Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” and the defense of PhD thesis on chamber music for piano quartet and piano quintet, she continued her musical path as a concert pianist. In 2000 Angela Tosheva and Michail Goleminov founded the music label “Orange Factory Psychoacoustic Arts” for their and different concerts and festivals, audiovisual art, composition of electroacoustic music; they also publish music scores and books. They organize numerous festivals, one of them – the Festival for American and Bulgarian Music at the Northern Kentucky University, Ohio, USA in 2008. Angela conducts master classes and is an active teacher. She has given numerous first performances of works by contemporary composers. She has released 15 audio CD and films recordings for the Bulgarian National Television with works by Debussy and Beethoven.