The program was organized by Portugal’s Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Saigon Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert marked the Guimarães String Quartet’s first performance in Vietnam, offering local audiences a rare opportunity to experience representative works by prominent Portuguese composers.
The Guimarães String Quartet comprises violinists Emanuel Salvador and Ana Madalena Ribeiro, viola player Emilia Goch, and cellist Filipe Quaresma. Joining the ensemble was bassoonist Nguyen Bao Anh, artistic director of the Saigon Philharmonic Orchestra. The repertoire featured String Quartet No. 2 by Joly Braga Santos, the String Quartet by Luís de Freitas Branco, and Adagio Lamentoso by composer Bruno Miranda, among other works.
The GSQ was founded in 2016 and is the quartet in residence in Guimarães, Portugal. Highlights from the quartet's history include concerts at the Macau International Music Festival, concerts in Kaiserslautern in Germany, and various tours in Poland, including concerts at the Wroclaw National Forum of Music and Czestochowa Philharmonic Hall, among others. The GSQ has also appeared at various festivals, including the Tricastin Festival in France, the Gaia International Music Festival, the “Guimaraes Allegro” Festival, and the Baltic Neopolis Festival. The quartet was awarded a Dgartes internationalization grant in 2020.
