The viola da gamba is a bowed string instrument played vertically supported between the player's legs. Its morphology clearly distinguishes it from the violin family. It typically features sloping shoulders, a flat back, and sound holes often C-shaped. The neck has tied gut frets and is equipped with six or seven gut strings.
Acoustically, the tuning is organized in fourths with a major third in the middle, facilitating the execution of chords and polyphony. The frets impart a crystalline resonance to the stopped notes, similar to that of open strings. Using lower string tension and a bow handled with the palm facing upwards, its timbre is intimate, velvety, and slightly nasal, not possessing the projective power of the cello.
Historically, it emerged at the end of the 15th century in the Iberian Peninsula, deriving from the adaptation of the plucked vihuela to the bow. It reached its peak during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, possessing a vast solo and chamber repertoire. At the end of the 18th century, it declined drastically due to the increasing demand for volume in concert halls, eventually resurfacing brilliantly in the 20th century.
Teachers
Courses with this instrument
She began her musical journey in piano and singing, at the Conservatório Regional de Almada and the Escola de Música do Conservatório Nacional. It was in this context that she had her first contact with the viola da gamba, an instrument that would come to play a central role in her artistic and pedagogical activity.
She holds a degree in Viola da Gamba from the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (Porto), in the class of Professor Xurxo Varela, and a postgraduate degree in Advanced Studies in Polyphony from the same institution. She studied at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen (Germany), under the guidance of Professor Hille Perl. Concurrently, she conducts research in the field of historical musicology as part of the Master's in Artistic Studies at the University of Coimbra.
She regularly participates in various early music projects, currently co-director of the ensemble Antiquorum, dedicated to 17th-century Iberian music, and a member of the ensembles Ars Luxurians and Spirito dell’Anima. She was part of the group Camerata 2.6, winner in the Baroque Music Category of the 29th edition of the Prémio Jovens Músicos.
In addition to early music, she is involved in projects in diverse areas, notably the group B’rbicacho, dedicated to traditional Portuguese music. She teaches viola da gamba at the Conservatório de Música de Loulé – Francisco Rosado.