Harmonia Cordis

Britta Schmitt and Carles Guisado met during their studies at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona.
They gave their concert debut as Duo Joncol in spring 2008 in the Catalan capital.
Both musicians studied at the music universities in Barcelona and Cologne under Prof. Zoran Dukic, Prof. Hubert Käppel and Prof. Roberto Aussel respectively. In addition, they received important stimulus from Prof. Ansgar Krause and worked with the Catalan composer Feliu Gasull, who dedicated one of his works to them.
As a duo, they have won numerous prizes such as the first prize in the international guitar competition Olsztyn (Poland, 2008), the first prize in the “Niccolo Paganini”-guitar competition in Parma (Italy, 2009), the first prize at the Transylvanian guitar competition (Rumania, 2010).
Duo Joncol have performed concerts at music festivals in Spain, Italy, Poland, Rumania, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands.
Their project ‘Duo Joncol – Köln meets Barcelona,’ involving artists of various styles from both cities, has been awarded ongoing support from the Sk-Kultur Foundation and the Kulturamt Köln.
In 2009, Duo Joncol received scholarships from both the Hirschmann foundation and the Catalan government to undertake a master’s degree in chamber music at the Hochschule Lucerne, Switzerland, under Prof. Andreas von Wangenheim which they completed with highest distinction.
Duo Joncol is noted for their transcriptions and performances of Spanish and Latin America music. In 2010 they won in Valencia, Spain, the “Rosa-Gil”-Prize for the best interpretation of Spanish music. Their passion for promoting and performing Music of contemporary composers lead them to work with the spanish composer Feliu Gasull, Carles M. Eroles and the polish composer Marek Pasieczny, who dedicated one of their works to them.
Their debut CD “Blau Mar” with music of Spanish and Latin-American composers, whose work is inspired by folkloric elements, released in March 2010, was awarded the highest critical acclaim.
A current project is their collaboration with the german percussionist Kurt Fuhrmann, who includes percussion instruments from different cultures in his playing like the Darbuka, the Ghatam or African water drum.
The Duo is based in Switzerland, where they teach at the Musicschool-Conservatory Zürich and the pedagogic University Zug.