CODEX Gulbenkian is the title of the recital taking place on June 2, at 6:00 PM, at the Museum, as part of the Music at the Museum 2026 series.

The concert, performed by Tiago Matias, explores European repertoire from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries for Baroque and Romantic guitar, with a central focus on the Portuguese manuscript Cifras de Viola (Musical Manuscript 97 of the General Library of the University of Coimbra), one of the most significant Iberian collections dedicated to this instrument.

The programme establishes a dialogue between genres and styles, bringing together characteristic forms of the Portuguese repertoire—such as Cumbe, Fantasia, Alemanda, Capona, Rojão, and Sarambeque—with works widely disseminated across Europe, including Folias, Ciacconas, Preludes, and Fandangos, by composers such as Gaspar Sanz, Francesco Corbetta, Robert de Visée, and Santiago de Murcia.

This musical journey extends into the 19th century, featuring works by Fernando Sor, Johann Kaspar Mertz, and Francisco Tárrega, highlighting the technical and expressive evolution of the guitar and its emergence as a solo instrument.

Biography

Born in Aveiro, Tiago Matias completed the Advanced Course in Classical Guitar in 2002 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatory of Aveiro, graduating with the highest mark in his final examination. In 2005, he earned a degree in Guitar from the Lisbon School of Music. He has received several awards in guitar competitions, including 1st prize at “Música en Compostela” (Santiago de Compostela, 2004) and 3rd prize at the Legato Competition (Porto, 2000).

He regularly collaborates with ensembles such as the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Ludovice Ensemble, Segréis de Lisboa, Sete Lágrimas, Casa da Música Baroque Orchestra, and Divino Sospiro, among others. He has recorded 18 albums with some of these groups and has performed in leading concert halls and music festivals worldwide. In 2012, together with Filipe Faria, he founded the early music ensemble Noa Noa, with which he has released four albums.

In 2021, he recorded and released his first solo album, Cifras de Viola, featuring previously unpublished Portuguese works for viola (Baroque guitar). The album was nominated for the Play – Portuguese Music Awards in the category of Best Classical/Erudite Album that year. In 2023, he released Sospiro, for vihuela, with transcriptions and arrangements of Portuguese Renaissance music, alongside a book containing the tablatures and scores of the recorded works.

Fantasia, featuring contemporary music for solo theorbo written specifically for him by five Portuguese composers, was released in 2024, alongside a book edition of the music. This recording is the first worldwide entirely dedicated to contemporary repertoire for solo theorbo. Also in 2024, he released Cordovil, devoted to the complete works of José Ferreira Cordovil (c. 1687–1761) for Baroque guitar—the first recording of this repertoire—accompanied by a book with transcriptions. In 2025, he recorded and released Sombras, his fifth solo album, featuring previously unpublished works for Baroque guitar by António Marques Lésbio (1639–1709). During the 2025/2026 season, he undertakes his first solo world tour, with 26 concerts in 12 countries.

As a teacher, he has led masterclasses in lute and guitar and has taught these disciplines at the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatory of Aveiro and the National Conservatory (Lisbon). He served as Director of Quartel das Artes (Oliveira do Bairro) between 2018 and 2024. He is a researcher at the Centre for Classical and Humanistic Studies and a PhD candidate in Artistic Studies at the University of Coimbra.