Maria Lívia São Marcos

Origin

São Paulo, SP

Genres

erudite music, classical guitar

Instruments

guitar, classical guitar

Biography

Maria Lívia São Marcos was born in São Paulo on April 8, 1942. The daughter of classical guitarist Manoel São Marcos, she had her first contact with the instrument before even turning four years old under her father's tutelage. She began her concert career very young, making her first recording at age fourteen and graduating from the virtuosity course at the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo at seventeen. Throughout her career, she established herself as one of the most talented guitarists of her generation, receiving important awards such as the Classical Music Villa-Lobos Award and being named Revelation of the Year by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics in 1961.

Her international career spanned several prominent performances in Europe, including concerts in Switzerland, France, Poland, and Croatia, where she presided over masterclasses at the Summer Music Festival in Grožnjan. For over thirty years, she served as a professor at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in Switzerland, in addition to having taught at the Carlos Gomes Conservatory of Music in Brazil. She also founded the classical guitar quartet Maria Lívia São Marcos & The Geneva Guitar Soloists, expanding her work in chamber music.

The guitarist's discography is vast and includes acclaimed albums dedicated to composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Manuel Ponce, as well as ventures into baroque and contemporary music. Her recorded work has been released by national and international labels, notably featuring recordings alongside renowned ensembles such as the Solisti di Zagreb. Through her dedication to teaching and erudite interpretation, she has become an unavoidable reference for Brazilian classical guitar abroad.