Duo Joncol Story

Britta Schmitt and Carles Guisado met during their studies
at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona.
They gave their concert debut as Duo Joncol in spring 2008
in the Catalan capital.
Both musicians studied at the music universities in Barcelona and Cologne under Prof. Zoran Dukic, Prof. Hubert Käppel and Prof. Roberto Aussel respectively. In addition, they received important stimulus from Prof. Ansgar Krause and worked with the Catalan composer Feliu Gasull, who dedicated one of his works to them.

As a duo, they have won numerous prizes such as

the first prize in the international guitar competition Olsztyn (Poland, 2008),
the first prize in the "Niccolo Paganini"-guitar competition in Parma (Italy, 2009),
the first prize at the Transylvanian guitar competition (Rumania, 2010) and the “Rosa-Gil”-Prize for the best interpretation of Spanish music (2010).

Duo Joncol have performed concerts at music festivals in Spain, Italy, Poland, Rumania, USA, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.
Their project 'Duo Joncol - Köln meets Barcelona,' involving artists of various styles from both cities, has been awarded ongoing support from the Sk-Kultur Foundation and the Kulturamt Köln.
In 2009, Duo Joncol received scholarships from both the Hirschmann foundation and the Catalan government to undertake a master’s degree in chamber music at the Hochschule Lucerne, Switzerland, under Prof. Andreas von Wangenheim.

Duo Joncol’s repertoire spans from baroque music and compositions of the classical period to contemporary music. Besides their passion for promoting and performing Catalan music, they are particularly interested in the music of Spanish and Latin-American composers whose work is inspired by folkloric elements.
Their debut CD, “Blau Mar”, released in March 2010, was awarded the highest critical acclaim.