Performers and teachers | Guitartik Take 1

Sergio Coto

Iceland - Costa Rica

Sergio Coto was born in San José, Costa Rica. Sergio studied classical guitar at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and subsequently specialised in lute and basso continuo at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen. Since then, Sergio has worked as a theorbo and lute player in different European countries and played with ensembles such as Vokalakademie Berlin, Das Norddeutsche Barockorchester, Bach-Chor München, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Bremer Barockorchester. In Iceland he has performed at the Reykjavík Early Music Festival, Summer Concerts in Skálholt and Óperudagar (Opera Days.) He has worked as a guest teacher in baroque productions at the Iceland University of the Arts. In 2023 he released the duo CD “Consort of Two”, containing English Renaissance music, with harpist Sólveig Thoroddsen. He currently works as a guitar teacher at Tónskólinn Do re mí in Reykjavík.

Matti Saarinen studied classical guitar at the Sibelius-Academy (w/Jukka Savijoki and Timo Korhonen) Musikhögskolan i Malmö (w/Göran Söllscher and Gunnar Spjuth) and at the Universitet für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (w/Alvaro Pierri). In addition he has participated in several masterclasses with Erik Stenstadvold, Oscar Chiglia, David Russell, Nigel North, Hubert Käppel and Wolfgang Muthspiel. Matti Saarinen graduated a master degree from Sibelius-Academy in 2004. He has performed
and recorded both as a soloist and with various ensembles in all the Nordic Countries, in US, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Spain. Years 2006-2016 he lived and worked in Iceland. Matti currently lives in Helsinki and works as an educator and active musician in the classical and jazz music scenes. He curates Ja Kitara Soi -festival in Lappeenranta and since 2025 is a guest teacher at the I-AME Summer
Academy in Prag. Matti has published two albums and a book of his compositions, Matti Saarinen – 12 Studies for Guitar.

“My strategy as a musician is to stay curious and keep an open mind. I believe that education in classical music provides a solid basis for expeditions to composition, orchestration and improvisation.”

Matti Saarinen

Finland

Mikkel Andersen

Denmark

Mikkel Andersen was born in Viby Sjælland in 1972. Growing up in a working-class family, it was not on the cards that Mikkel Andersen should become a classical solo guitarist, play concerts at home and abroad and run his own guitar school.

Classical music came to him by chance. When he was six years old, his godmother gave him a package calendar, and on Christmas Eve the gift was a homemade cassette tape with Peter Plush stories on one side and Tchaikovsky on the other.
When he heard Tchaikovsky, a new world opened for him, and he started going to guitar at the age of nine.

In his childhood home, one had to knuckle down for food and order something. That approach became an advantage when he started playing guitar, for he practiced for many hours at a time and more than most.

”The more I dived into classical music, the more new dimensions opened up,"

Daniele Basini

Iceland - Italy

Classical guitarist, composer, and educator with an
international career spanning Italy and the Nordic countries, with a strong presence in Iceland, where he currently reside. Daniele's artistic focus is the creation of new repertoire for classical guitar and mixed ensembles. His works have been performed across Italy, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Finland, and
Iceland.

Óskar Magnússon

Iceland

Óskar Magnússon is a classical guitarist from Reykjavík, Iceland. He received his early training at the Iceland University of the Arts and completed his master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied under the renowned guitarist Judicaël Perroy. He has performed at international festivals including the Forum Vienna Guitar Festival and the Miami Guitar Festival, and was awarded First Prize at the Ovanes and Oher International Guitar Competition in Los Angeles.

His debut album Guitar Recital, available on Spotify, features works by Sergio Assad, Roland Dyens, Giulio Regondi, and Alexandre Tansman, reflecting his wide-ranging musical interests and artistry. Óskar has also collaborated with various Icelandic composers, both as a soloist and as part of the Magma Guitar Duo, contributing to the creation and performance of new works for the instrument.

In addition to performing, Óskar maintains an active teaching studio in Iceland and regularly collaborates with other musicians in chamber and cross-genre settings.

Svanur Vilbergsson

Iceland

Svanur Vilbergsson ranks among the most prominent classical guitar players of his generation. Past performances include recitals in Boston, Seattle, and Majorca. The Spanish composer Mateau Malondra Flaquer has dedicated works to him and in 2014 he premiered alongside the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra a new guitar concerto written by the composer Oliver Kentish and dedicated to him.
In addition to his concerts throughout Europe and the USA, Svanur Vilbergsson continues to perform on the most visible stages in his native country. He is a member of Stirni Ensemble and The Icelandic Guitar Trio, both groups specializing in the performance of contemporary music.
His Album 'Four Works'; was published in 2011 to great acclaim and includes works by Antonio José, Mauro Giuliani, J. S. Bach and Giulio Regondi. Vilbergsson holds a Bachelor degree from the Maastricht Conservatory (Holland), where he studied guitar with Carlo Marchione and chamber music with cellist Alexander Petrasch and violist Henk Guittart. His other teachers have included Arnaldur Arnarsson (Escola Luthier, Spain) Sonja Prunnbauer (Hochschule für musik Freiburg) and Enno Voorhorst, with whom he attained his Masters degree from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (Holland).

He currently teaches classical guitar at The Icelandic Academy of Arts.