Date
20/6/2026

The School of Applied Arts (ESART) at the Castelo Branco Polytechnic (IPCB) is well represented in the Higher Education finals of the 39th Young Musicians’ Prize (PJM), as five of its current students have successfully progressed through the initial qualifying rounds.

The auditions took place between 12 and 18 June at Casa da Música in Porto, with three finalists selected from among the 250 candidates in each of the nine categories in the competition.

In the percussion category, Francisco Guerreiro and Jaime Pereira, students on the Master’s degree programme in Music Education, secured two of the available places. The same scenario played out in the trumpet category, with Gonçalo Viana and Tomás Reis, both on the Bachelor’s degreeprogramme in Music – Instrumental specialisation, securing their places in the final round of the competition.

ESART-IPCB’s presence at this stage also extends to the chamber music category through the Quarteto Transversal, as the ensemble features cellist Matheus Borges, who is studying for the same master’s degree, and a former student of the institution, violist Rafaela Riscado.

During the qualifying round, Francisco Guerreiro performed works by Bruno Mantovani, Michael Gordon and the piece for solo vibraphone Azul refracto by Luís Oliveira. Jaime Pereira also performed works by the Portuguese composer, as well as pieces by Philippe Hurel and Kevin Volans. Accompanied on the piano, Gonçalo Viana performed pieces by Jean Françaix, Georg Philipp Telemann and Hugo Moreira, whilst Tomás Reis focused on works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, George Enescu and Hugo Moreira. The Quarteto Transversal, meanwhile, concentrated on works by Daniele Ciminiello, Aaron Copland and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The final rounds will take place between 24 and 28 July at the Casa da Cultura in Santa Comba Dão. In the case of percussion and trumpet, the shortlisted musicians will perform one piece and a concerto of their choice. Chamber music ensembles, meanwhile, must perform a work by a Portuguese composer, a complete work and, optionally, another work or movement of a different character and period.

The winners of the 2026 edition of the PJM, under the artistic direction of Luís Tinoco, will perform at the 16th edition of the Young Musicians Festival, between 15 and 17 September in the main auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, when the winner of the Maestro Silva Pereira/Young Musician of the Year Award will be announced and Portugal’s representative at Eurovision Young Musicians will be selected.

Organised by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal via Antena 2, the PJM is aimed at Portuguese musicians or foreign musicians who have been resident in the country for more than three years or who are enrolled at national educational institutions during the current academic year, serving as a platform for promoting and developing the artistic skills of young talent.

UPDATE: In the final rounds, Francisco Guerreiro and Jaime Pereira won second and third prizes, respectively, in the percussion category. The same scenario played out in the trumpet category, with Gonçalo Viana and Tomás Reis, a category in which no first prize was awarded. In the chamber music category, the Quarteto Transversal, a group featuring cellist Matheus Borges, won second prize. On stage, Francisco Guerreiro performed pieces by James Macmillan and François Sarhan, whilst Jaime Pereira performed pieces by Vinko Globokar and Tobias Broström; both were accompanied on the piano by Bernardo Pinhal. Gonçalo Viana performed pieces by Anthony Plog and Henri Tomasi, whilst Tomás Reis focused on works by Allen Vizzutti and André Jolivet; both were accompanied on the piano by Alexander Kuklin and João Mesquita. The Quarteto Transversal, meanwhile, concentrated on works by Nuno Jacinto, Gordon Jacob and Paul Ben-Haim.

(photos: Jorge Carmona / RTP Antena 2)