Ministério da Cultura and Ilumina presents

11° ILUMINA FESTIVAL

January 2–11, 2026 in São Paulo Capital and Mococa


27 young musicians from 10 countries and 12 international soloists of 8 nationalities, in a

creative immersion that brings together education, performance, and innovation.

 
 
 

A home isn't just a building.

We all grew up in homes, yet no two are the same. A home isn't defined by money or size. It's not really about anything physical. The walls of a tiny shed can hold more love than a concrete mansion—or less.

So what is a home? Maybe music—not words—is the truest way to explore that feeling.

Bartók, in the U.S., writing truly Hungarian music.
Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, creating Tropicalia from exile in London.
The lullaby our mother sang before sleep.
The songs we sing to comfort our child in the dark.

Is home, perhaps, a sound?

This year, the Ilumina Festival takes "Home" as its theme. The festival will be a musical journey from indigenous cradle songs to the great masterpieces of classical tradition.

International stars will share the stage with rising talents from across South America. Many have traveled far to be in São Paulo, each bringing with them a piece of where they come from—a sound, a song, a word, a memory — to share with the audience.

Classical music is sometimes seen as exclusive —a fancy ivory tower open only to a chosen few. But at its heart, classical music is a home where everyone is welcome.

At Ilumina, we celebrate this, and we will leave the door open.


PROGRAMMES


The Ilumina Festival unfolds through a sequence of concerts and encounters that reflect its artistic vision: bringing exceptional music to diverse spaces while fostering meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and communities.

From intimate performances held within the Serraria Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza — dedicated exclusively to rural workers and the local community — to major concerts in São Paulo’s most renowned venues, the festival traces a journey that bridges landscapes, contexts, and music.

Each concert is part of a carefully curated program that highlights collaboration between international soloists and Ilumina’s young artists, offering audiences a unique experience of shared creation, dialogue, and musical excellence.

On January 8th and 9th, both concerts are dedicated exclusively to rural workers and the community at Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza.

Below is the complete concert schedule of open concerts in São Paulo for this edition of the festival:

 

Aurora

Concert with the international artists of Ilumina

Sándor Veress: Memento for Viola and Bass

Lilli Mailaja, viola

Pedro Gadelha, Bass

 

Mozart: Piano Quartet in Eb-major

Rachell Ellen Wong, violin

Lilli Maijala, viola

Giovanni Gnocchi, cello

Cristian Budu, piano

 

Ysaÿe, Sonata no. 5, for Solo Violin, ‘L’Aurore’

Yura Lee, violin

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Schumann: Piano Quintet in Eb-major

Vineta Sareika, violin

Monique Cabral, violin

Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola

Boris Adrianov, cello

Cristian Budu, piano

CASA – Perene

A curated musical journey through masterpieces by composers such as Bartok, Villa-Lopos, Mendelssohn and Caroline Shaw featuring all the international artists and young artists of Ilumina.

CASA – A Rosa mais bela

A curated musical journey through masterpieces by composers such as Tchaikowsky, Piazzolla, Dvorak and Judith Weir featuring all the international artists and young artists of Ilumina.

2026 Artists

In this edition, Ilumina Festival welcomes celebrated artists who share the stage — and their knowledge — with rising talents from across Latin America.

Violin

Vineta Sareika

Alberto Denis Galdona

Manaus, Brazil

Emiliano Perea Caparotta

Santiago de Chile, Chile

Luan Henrique Araujo

São Paulo, Brazil

Rafael de Almeida Marinho

Niterói, Brazil

Yura Lee

USA

Antonio Lara Pérez

Caracas, Venezuela

Jherald Aruquipa Alvarez

El Alto, Bolivia

Lucas Henrique Gonçalves

Porto Alegre, Brazil

Rayane Marques Santos

São Paulo, Brazil

Rachell Ellen Wong

USA

Carolina Wehbi Pigoli

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

João Vitor Araújo Lobo

Goiânia, Brazil

Mariana Ramírez Lizano

Alajuela, Costa Rica

Tiago Carvalho Júnior

São Paulo, Brazil

Monique Cabral

Brazil

Daniel Maldonado

Osasco, Brazil

José Domínguez Juárez

Guadalajara, México

Michelle Carreño Arias

Medellín, Colombia

Verônica Batista Joaquim

São Paulo, Brazil

 

Viola

Lilli Maijala

Finland

Nicole Chacón Méndez

San José, Costa Rica

Carla Belén Tapia Lagunas

Santiago, Chile

Víctor Enzo Rodrigues

São Paulo, Brazil

João Víctor Días de Sousa

Goiâna, Brasil

Kainan da Silva Firmino

São Gonçalo do Amarante, Brasil

 

Cello

Boris Andrianov

Moscow, Russia

Andrés Garzón Galindo

Bogotá, Colombia

Giovanni Gnocchi

Italy

Michelle Lepicheo

Santiago, Chile 

Bruno Lima

Brazil

Rafael Honório Sobrinho

Porto Alegre, Brazil

Alexander Paucar

Arequipa, Perú

Stephanny Mata Zorrilla

Caracas, Venezuela

 

Double Bass

Pedro Gadelha

Brazil

David Jordão de Moraes

São Paulo, Brazil

 
 

Piano

Cristian Budu

São Paulo, Brazil

 
 

Composer

Siba

Recife, Brazil

 
 
 
 

Jennifer Stumm

Founder and Artistic Director of Ilumina

Violist, artistic director, and speaker Jennifer Stumm follows a boldly creative path, leading projects that combine musical passion with transformative social innovation. Known for the “opaline beauty” (The Washington Post) of her sound, Jennifer performs around the world as both a viola soloist and as Ilumina’s Artistic Director. She founded the Ilumina project in 2015 as a new vision for 21st century creativity, united with social activism and community-led artistry.

A committed speaker and writer, Jennifer lectures regularly at NASA on how the arts can drive innovation for a better world. Her viral TEDx talk on the viola and the blessings of being different, The Imperfect Instrument, was selected by TED editors as one of their all-time favorites and led to her solo debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Born in Atlanta, Jennifer grew up in a family of singers immersed in Appalachian tradition. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, while also developing an interest in politics at the University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer Stumm is Professor of Viola at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and performs on a 1589 Gasparo da Salò viola, generously on loan from a private trust.


A Musical Laboratory

The Ilumina Festival began in 2015 as a musical and social experiment on a farm in the mountains of the São Paulo countryside, when Jennifer Stumm brought together a small group of musicians to play three concerts in a magical blue church. The idea was that uniting super-talented young musicians from diverse backgrounds together with leading artists to live, eat, work and perform side-by-side would accelerate understanding, opportunity, and creativity for all participants, and hopefully make waves for equity and inclusion in the wider world of classical music. Since then, the festival has rocketed to prominence as an example of what an artist-led project can achieve, with a staggering percentage of young musicians going on to study at leading institutions around the world, and a family of international artists investing deeply in making sure the next generation gets a fair chance. An audience of thousands, for whom festival concerts are often their only access to live music, returns year after year.

The Music of Sustainability: Ilumina and FAF Coffee

The Ilumina Festival’s working home is the beautiful Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza in the interior of São Paulo state—a world leader in sustainable organic coffee and agriculture, where music and nature blend seamlessly in the Atlantic rain forest, surrounded by birdsong, jaguars and 1000 year old trees. Our hosts, Silvia Barretto and Marcos Croce, have developed the Fazenda as a modern model for building holistic and sustainable relationships with the natural world, with the community and with the quality products it produces—a beautiful mirror to the work on Ilumina. Many Ilumina young artists grow up exclusively in urban peripheries of large cities and have not had deep experience with the natural world or with quality food. FAF’s “Total Quality” mission encourages making healthy connections between all aspects of life. During the festival, quality music can be heard day and night from every corner of the farm, just as the farm nourishes the creativity and social inspiration of every artist. Sustainability, the way of working with the environment’s own elegant solutions and rhythms, are the foundation of Ilumina’s practices, in music and in working for social good.

Young Artists 2015-present

 
 

Violin

Alexandre Pinatto

Ana Carolina Rebouças Guimarães

André Felipe Lima

André Silva

Ariel Santos Polycarpo

Arnaldo Abrahan Figueroa Perez

Artur Lima

Barbara de Jesus

Bogdan Hudzelaits

Breno Albuquerque

Bruna Dantas

Dan Tolomony

Daniel Maldonado de Souza

Diego Adnolfi

Eliel Santana

Ellen Caroline da Silveira

Emiliano Octavio Perea Caparotta

Felipe Bueno 

Fernando Batista

Gabriel Moreira Mira

Gabriel Pereira da Silva

Gideoni Loamir Veríssimo

Guilherme Calebe S Martins

Guilherme Peres Silva Oliveira

Guilherme Prado Perez

Gustavo Lennertz Gonçalves Penha

Henrique Lima Oliveira Silva

Ingrid Comazzetto

Isabella Rangel

Iury Santos 

Jamile Costa Destro

Jessé Xavier Reis

Jhonnisvan Da Cruz Campos

Jose de Jesus Dominguez Juarez

Karen Nino

Leandro Gustavo Vicente Hauxwell

Leonardo Aniceto

Lucas Bernardo

Lucas Dos Santos Silva

Lucas Henrique Bernardo Gonçalves

Lucas Santa Clara dos Santos

Lucio Mariano Luis

Malena Verduga Martínez

Marcela Macedo de Oliveira

Maressa Portilho 

Maria Fernanda Lago

Maria Júlia Segura de Azevedo

Marina Vilaça Pinho Caputo

Michael Junior da Silva Alves

Monique Cabral 

Murilo de Sá Barreto Callou Peixoto

Nathalia Sousa Oliveira

Nathan  Amaral

Nycollas Novais Queiroz da Silva

Paloma Silveira Rossatto

Rafael de Almeida Marinho

Rafael Sanches 

Robinho Carmo

Sara Pomim de Oliveira

Sol Irais Duran Moreno

Syllas Hanan Moura Gomes Santos

Tamiris Paes Souza

Thierry de Lucas Neves

Uiler Moreira de Souza

Valentina Isabel Fuentes Lizana

Vangelis Lopes

Veronica Lopes 

Victor Gonzalez Bigai

Vinicius Gomes de Oliveira Sousa

Vinicius Henrique Batista

 

Viola

Abner Molina Brasil

Aliana Alencar

Carlos Alberto Romero Núñez

Clara Lucia dos Santos

Dalúz Sepulveda

Daniel Aaron Espinoza Façanha

Daniel Damasceno Amaral

Debora Gabriela Salinas Martens

Eder Henrique Souza Assuncao

Gabriel  Pereira Iscuissati

Gabriel Iscuissati 

Gabriel Polycarpo

Gabriel Squizzato

Gabriela Alexandra Ybarra Manrique

Gerusa França

Géssica Sant’ana

Guilherme Aparecido Santana

Guilherme Marques Caldas

Igor Borges

Israel Rei Almeida

Jesus Miguel Guerrero Flores

Julián Camilo Lerma Bejarano

Luiz Felipe Borges 

Paulo Alonso

Raquel Paz 

Raul Victor Martins da Silva

Sebastián Rodrigo Páez Saavedra

Stefany Stelet

Tania Valentina Painemal Ahumada

Vicente Patricio Burgos Arredondo

Waleska Desiree Vallenilla Valera

Yohanna Alves Pereira

Clarinet

Gonzalo Alberto Guerra Valderrama

Isaque Elias

Victor Hugo Rego

Horn

Isaque Elias

 

Cello

Ailen Klosko

Ana Verena Díaz

Anderson Clemente Santana

Ariam Guadalupe Fernandez Marquez

Betzabeth Eden Vicent Marquez

Bianca Souza

Bruno Lima

Bruno William

Caio Catão de Albuquerque

Caio Soares de Brito

Daniel Franklim Tassotti

Davi Castro de Lima Marconi

David Antonio Carrasco Figueroa

David Carrasco

Felipe de Luna

Frank Junior

Gabriel Vasco da Silva

Gabrielle Graciano Pessoa

Guilherme Afonso de Moraes Silva

Guilherme Moraes

Haziel Cândido da Silva Santos

Israel De Oliveira Marinho

João Pedro Marques Brandão

Juan Rogers Soares Rodrigues

Leonela de Jesús Velázquez Suárez

Luan Santa Clara dos Santos

Lucas de Oliveira Santos

Lucas Garcia Muramoto

Lucas Ryoji Garcia Muramoto

Lucas Sampaio Ribeiro Martins

Luis Felipe Ramos Nobre

Matheus Mello

Matheus Posso

Miguel Braga

Nathalia Barbosa Gonçalves Sudario

Orlando Abraham López Puertas

Pillar Gisele Rodrigues

Santo Scala Mora

Wesley Santos Sampaio

Bass

Ana Claudia Machicado Torres

Bella Lordelo

Bruna Cavalcante

Davi Ciriaco

David Jordão de Moraes

Talita Felicio