Guido Sant’Anna

Born in 2005 in São Paulo, Brazil, Guido Sant’Anna received international acclaim in 2022 when he became the first South American violinist to win the prestigious Fritz Kreisler International Competition in Vienna. This triumph was consolidated a few months later at the opening concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival 2023, where Sant’Anna made his major European debut alongside hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt and Alain Altinoglu, receiving high praise for his performance of Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole: “the young man has charisma, stage presence, and in his playing, an astonishing maturity and depth” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

Sant’Anna has developed a close connection to the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director, Thierry Fischer; subscription concerts, his debut recording project for the Naxos Records label and an upcoming tour in China comprise their activities together. In Germany, he returns to the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2024 to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Jérémie Rhorer and reunites with hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt at the Kronberg Academy Festival. Further orchestral debuts include the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra under Hans Graf, the Athens State Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

In spring 2025 Sant’Anna makes his debut at the Elbphilharmonie as part of a European tour with the Neojibá Youth Orchestra, along with soloists Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Equally active as a recitalist, Sant’Anna made his South Korean debut on a recital tour in September 2023, with appearances at the TongYeong Concert Hall and Seoul’s Mapo Art Center. Further afield, notable recital debuts include the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Alte Oper Frankfurt and Rising Stars München in Germany, La Jolla Music Society in the USA and Festival Lago Maggiore Musica in Italy.

In 2024 Sant’Anna was awarded the LOTTO-Förderpreis by the Rheingau Musik Festival and joined a prestigious list of recipients, including Sheku Kanneh-Mason, María Dueñas and Tarmo Peltokoski. In 2025 he becomes a fellow of the esteemed stARTacademy, supported by Bayer Kultur.

Sant’Anna is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy, Germany, under the tutelage of Mihaela Martin. He began his violin lessons at the age of five, giving his orchestral debut two years later. In 2018 he became the first Brazilian violinist to be invited to the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition in Geneva, winning both the Audience Prize and the Chamber Music Award. His numerous accomplishments have earned him a coveted place on Forbes Brazil’s “30 under 30” list.

Sant’Anna plays a violin made in 1874 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, on generous loan from the luthier Marcel Richters. He has been supported by the KD SCHMID Fellowship Scheme since May 2023.