Only rarely do we find an artist with the range of musicianship of Aliéksey Vianna. Aliéksey is equally at home performing classical guitar solos, concerti, chamber works, jazz and Brazilian music with unique artistry and a technical expertise that are compelling to critics and the general public. Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Aliéksey has performed in prestigious music venues in over twenty countries throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, including New York's Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Bay Area's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yoshi's Jazz Club, Mexico City's Nezahualcoyotl and Sao Paulo's Sala Ester Mesquita. Aliéksey has performed as a soloist with orchestras and chamber groups in Brazil, USA, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Poland. He has played with many world-renowned musicians, such as Peter Erskine, Paul McCandless, Toninho Horta, Tracy Silverman, Petri Sakari and Pierre Boulez. He was chosen to perform Boulez's landmark work "Le Marteau sans Maitre", conducted by the composer at Carnegie Hall. He has premiered pieces by Egberto Gismonti, Edino Krieger, David Burge and Sérgio Assad. Maestro Assad recognized Aliéksey's talent and offered to produce a CD of his own solo guitar works, which has been released by the GSP label in February of 2005. Aliéksey first took up the guitar spontaneously at the age of eight. At age twelve, he began formal musical studies, which included classical guitar, composition, arranging and orchestration. His main teachers were Rogerio Bianchi, Maria Rachel Marcondes, Jose Lucena Vaz, Fernando Araujo, Thomas Patterson and David Tanenbaum. He has also performed in master classes of Sergio and Odair Assad, Manuel Barrueco, Roland Dyens, Abel Carlevaro, Oscar Ghiglia, Nigel North, Paul O'dette, Hopkinson Smith and Ralph Towner, among others. Aliéksey is an exceptional guitarist who is highly accomplished in both the classical and jazz genres and is constantly crossing stylistic borders. He was awarded first prizes in more than ten worldwide music competitions. These awards have led to invitations to perform and teach in several music festivals, and to record with such important labels as Radio MEC in Brazil, URTEXT in Mexico and GSP in the USA. Aliéksey has been awarded the first prize in the following competitions: I San Francisco International Guitar Competition, USA XII Savona International Guitar Competition, Italy John Duarte International Guitar Competition, Austria IV Sernancelhe International Guitar Competition, Portugal XI Kutna Hora International Guitar Competition, Czech Republic VI Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Manuel M. Ponce, México I Concurso Nacional de Violăo- Homenagem a Fred Schneiter, Brazil XIII Concorso Internazionale di Chitara- Cita di Mottola, Italy 2000 Fresno Guitar Competition, USA I Concurso de Violăo Jose Lucena Vaz, Brazil 1998 Portland Guitar Festival Solo Competition, USA "Herb Ellis Award"- best Guitarist of the 1997 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, USA 1995 "Tucson Jazz Society Award", USA Other prizes include: XVI Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, Montreal- 2nd prize III Stotsenberg International Guitar Competition, Malibu, CA- 2nd prize I Toru Takemitsu International Competition, Turku, Finland- 4th prize III Crete International Guitar competition, Arhanes, Greece- 3rd prize I Certamen Internacional de Guitarra Classica Julian Arcas, Spain- 3rd prize III Ville d'Antony International Guitar Competition, France- 2nd prize X Premio Eldorado de Musica, Sao Paulo, Brazil- 3rd prize II Concurso Internacional de Guitarra, Trofa, Portugal- 2nd prize VI Printemps de la Guitare International Competition, Belgium- 4th prize Aliéksey has collaborated with many musicians of a wide range of styles and backgrounds, such as: Conductors Pierre Boulez, Petri Sakari, Nicole Paiement, Benito Juarez, Dan Asia and Neal Finn, pianists Jack Perla and Mike Eckroth, bassists Kai Eckhardt and Elliot Wadopian, percussionists Peter Erskine, Caito Marcondes, Decio Ramos and Todd Hames, trombonist Bill Watrous, saxophonist Harvey Wainapel, clarinetist Sheldon Brown, oboist Paul McCandless, bassoonists Paul Hanson and Claudio Moller de Freitas, flutist Carlos Ernst Dias, violinist Tracy Silverman, cellists Dimos Goudaroulis and Anna Jonshult, guitarists Paul Galbraith, Toninho Horta, Marco Pereira and Magno Alexandre, the Turku Symphony Orchestra, Aukso Tychy Chamber Orquestra, Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, Campinas Symphony Orchestra, the string quartets Knifkvarteten and Quarteto Mineiro de Cordas, Arizona Contemporary Ensemble, Maestro Duda do Frevo's Big Band and group UAKTI's workshop ensemble. Aliéksey has been performing and/or teaching in the following music festivals: Turku Guitar Festival (Finland), Mikulov Guitar Festival (Czech Republic), Kutna Hora Guitar Festival (Czech Republic), Sernancelhe Guitar Festival (Portugal), Festival Internaciolal de Guitarra Arranda del Duero (Spain), Portland Guitar Festival (Oregon- USA), Appalachian Guitar Fest (North Carolina- USA), Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (Idaho- USA), NCU Jazz Festival (Colorado- USA), IDRS Festival (Wisconsin- USA), AZ Jazz Week (Arizona- USA), Festival Iberoamericano de Guitarra Instituto Cervantes (Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Chile), Ciclo de Conciertos CIDEG (Mexico), Festival de Violao Jose Lucena Vaz (Brazil), Articulacoes Music Festival (Brazil), Festival Concertos do Seculo XX (Brazil), I Semana da Musica UFMG (Brazil), Festival Intermidia Off (Brazil), Festival Dilermando Reis em Guaratingueta (Brazil), Londrina Winter Festival (Brazil), UFMG Winter Festival in Ouro Preto (Brazil).