Born in the Portuguese city of Porto a mere 27 years ago, João Barradas can already boast a long career brimming with triumphs. He was six years old when he first encountered the accordion, and he mastered the intricacies of the instrument with breakneck speed, amazing all of his teachers. Between the years 2000 - that is, from the age of eight - and 2016, he took part in more than 30 competitions, and he won every single one of them! He considers himself to be simultaneously a representative of the jazz and classical music worlds, and his teachers have included luminaries from both genres.
This duality of his is also ensured by the programme he is playing at major concerts all over the continent as part of the European Concert Hall Organisation's Rising Stars programme: the performance will begin with compositions by the grand old men of American jazz before moving into one of the classics of 20th-century modern European music: a piece from the renowned Sequenza series by Luciano Berio, who died in 2003. At this concert, Barradas will also present his work as a composer: his Prelude No. 1 from last year features improvisational segments in balanced proportion with the written music, while also affording the performer opportunities to display new and unusual techniques for playing the accordion.
With one work by each Sweelinck, Scarlatti and Bach in the Baroque portion of the programme, he will prove that the accordion can be used to interpret the music of any stylistic period, and its sound is credible for playing works of even the most serious tone.

Nominated for the Rising Stars programme by: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, Casa da Música Porto, Philharmonie Luxembourg

In Festival Square after the concert, visitors will be able to participate in a meet and greet moderated by Endre Tóth, where they can chat with the artists appearing in the concert and request autographs.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest