Contestant

Born on 12/17/2005 in São Paulo/SP, Matheus began his piano studies in December 2018 as a self-taught musician. In July 2019, he started private piano lessons with professor and pianist Horacio Gouveia.
In 2020, he joined the São Paulo State Music School (EMESP), ranking first in the selection process for the Classical Piano program. Since then, he has been a student in the piano class of professor Horacio Gouveia. In 2022, he completed the second cycle of piano training and was admitted in first place to the third cycle, which he began in 2023. In 2024, he was accepted into the Artist Diploma program at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, under the guidance of Olivier Gardon.
Matheus participated in the prestigious Salines Royale Academy, where he took lessons with Ricardo Castro (Brazil), the first Novo Hamburgo Music Festival (FeMusik), and the V Piano Workshop at USP in 2023, attending masterclasses with Álvaro Teixeira Lopes (University of Aveiro,Portugal). He has also taken masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Marc-André Hamelin(Canada), Alexander Kobrin (Russia), Juliana Steinbach (Brazil/France), Lachezar Stankov (Bulgaria/UK), and Olinda Alessandrini (Brazil).
AWARDS IN PIANO COMPETITIONS
– 1st Prize: 8th “José Jacinto Cuevas” Yamaha Piano Competition (Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico)
– Best Performance Award for the mandatory piece Mazurka No. 16 – M. Ponce (same competition)
– 2nd Prize: Glory International Piano Competition (New York, USA, 2022)
– 1st Prize: II Basileu França National Competition for Young Soloists and Conductors (Goiânia, 2023)
– 1st Prize: I FeMusik Young Soloists Competition (Novo Hamburgo, 2023)
– 1st Prize: XIII Professora Edna Bassetti Habith Piano Competition (Curitiba, 2022)
– 1st Prize: VI Pró Música National Piano Competition (Campinas, 2022)
– Special Award: Guita and José Mindlin Library of USP at the II Gilberto Tinetti Competition (São Paulo, 2023)
– 2nd Prize: XXXI Souza Lima National Competition (São Paulo, 2023)
– 3rd Prize: III GruPiano Competition (Guarulhos, 2023)
– Honorable Mention: XXVIII Souza Lima National Competition (São Paulo, 2019)