German guitarist Stefan Schmitz (1976) began playing the classical guitar in 1997. Later he studied under Joaquin Clerch and Carlo Marchione. For his graduation concert at Maastricht where he took his master degree he received the highest possible score of 10 points.

He won prizes in international competitions in a.o. Rome (I), Kutna-Hora (CZ) and Koblenz(GER). Schmitz has published three CDs and one DVD. Stefan Schmitz‘s extensive concert activities in Europe resulted in invitations to the “Young Artists in Concert”-series in Rio de Janeiro and to concerts in Japan. He teaches at “Musikschule Neu-Ulm” in Southern Germany. 16 of his pupils won first prizes in national and international guitar competitions.

In September 2020 he suffered a stroke. Thanks to a lot of luck and perseverance, Schmitz can play the guitar at concert level again. This online concert will be his first after his stroke.

French guitarist Laura Rouy (1998) started playing the classical guitar at the age of six and got lessons from her father, who is a jazz guitarist. She studied at the Mée Sur Seine music school with Carlos Marin before entering Gabriel Bianco’s class at the Maurice Ravel Conservatory in Paris. She obtained the Diploma of Musical Studies in June 2018. She won several competitions in France. She is always passionate about Latin music and plays in a trio with her father and her sister a repertoire around tango and its influences. At the moment Laura Rouy studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory in the class of Gabriel Bianco.