Some musicians spend a lifetime learning to master an instrument. Others discover, almost unexpectedly, that the instrument has been waiting for them all along. For Jonathan Afonso, the guitar arrived relatively late. Although music had fascinated him since childhood, he did not begin playing until he was twenty-one years old. Yet what began as curiosity quickly evolved into something far deeper—a lifelong pursuit of expression in which six strings became a language capable of communicating what words could never fully contain.

This Sunday, the Luso-Canadian guitarist from Terceira Island brings that deeply personal musical journey to one of the Azores’ most breathtaking natural stages. Performing as part of the Música no Forte concert series at the historic Forte de Santa Catarina in Lajes do Pico, Afonso will introduce audiences to selections from Fire Within, his debut album, in a setting where the Atlantic Ocean, the silhouette of Pico Mountain, and the ancient volcanic landscape become silent collaborators in the performance.

For Afonso, there could scarcely be a more fitting environment in which to share his music.

Before speaking about the concert itself, he is quick to acknowledge Terry Costa, whose dedication to the Música no Forte series and unwavering support for emerging artists made the performance possible. It is a gesture of gratitude that reflects Afonso’s own understanding of artistic communities—not as isolated individuals, but as networks of people whose shared commitment allows creativity to flourish.

Performing in direct contact with nature, he says, is among the most inspiring experiences a musician can have. The dramatic surroundings of Forte de Santa Catarina—with uninterrupted views across the Atlantic and toward Portugal’s highest mountain—offer more than visual beauty. They create an atmosphere in which landscape and music become inseparable, each deepening the emotional resonance of the other.

That dialogue between the inner and outer worlds lies at the heart of Fire Within.

Developed over nearly four years, the album represents an intensely personal process of reflection, learning, and self-discovery. Rather than simply composing instrumental pieces, Afonso conceived the project as a kind of emotional diary, each composition marking a different chapter in an ongoing search to better understand himself and the human experience.

The album’s title itself serves as its central metaphor.

The “fire within” is neither wholly destructive nor entirely comforting. Like fire itself, it possesses the power both to illuminate and to consume. It can provide warmth, transformation, and creative energy, but only when it is understood and directed. Left unexplored, it may become equally capable of overwhelming the individual who carries it.

Each composition explores a different aspect of that internal landscape, allowing the guitar to become an extension of emotion rather than merely an instrument. Where language often reaches its limits, melody, rhythm, and silence continue speaking.

The project has been released gradually through a series of digital singles, with a vinyl edition planned in collaboration with the independent label Marca Pistola. With the album now complete, Afonso’s focus shifts toward bringing Fire Within to live audiences while simultaneously beginning work on an already developing second album.

What distinguishes his artistic vision is its complete embrace of instrumental music.

“I believe instrumental music fascinates me precisely because it isn’t limited by words,” he explains. “It is a universal language, open to each person’s interpretation.”

Every listener arrives carrying different memories, experiences, hopes, and losses. Consequently, the same composition may awaken entirely different emotions depending on who hears it. Rather than dictating meaning, Afonso seeks to create musical spaces where listeners discover their own.

His relationship with the guitar began with a single transformative encounter.

Hearing John Butler’s celebrated instrumental composition Ocean revealed possibilities he had never imagined. It demonstrated that a guitar alone could communicate profound emotional narratives without the assistance of lyrics.

Later came another defining influence: Estas Tonne.

The internationally renowned guitarist’s approach to improvisation and his ability to translate emotion directly into sound profoundly shaped Afonso’s understanding of what instrumental performance could become. Tonne showed him that the guitar could function not simply as a musical instrument, but as an authentic extension of personal identity.

Entirely self-taught and without formal academic training, Afonso has built his musicianship through relentless curiosity, disciplined practice, and an enduring desire to keep learning. That independent path has allowed him to develop a musical language unburdened by convention, guided instead by intuition and emotional honesty.

“I try to create an authentic connection between emotion and sound,” he says.

That philosophy defines every aspect of his playing.

His performances rely primarily on fingerstyle guitar, a demanding technique that allows melody, harmony, rhythm, and percussive textures to coexist simultaneously within a single instrument. More recently, he has begun incorporating carefully chosen effects pedals, expanding the guitar’s sonic landscape while remaining faithful to its organic character.

The result is music that feels both intimate and expansive—minimal in instrumentation yet remarkably rich in atmosphere.

This will not be Afonso’s first performance on Pico Island. He previously appeared at the internationally acclaimed Cordas World Music Festival, organized by MiratecArts, an experience he describes as deeply rewarding.

For him, artistic collaborations are essential because they create opportunities for different sensibilities, cultures, and perspectives to meet. He praises MiratecArts for its significant contribution to Azorean cultural life and for building bridges between artists from diverse backgrounds.

Those bridges remain central to his own ambitions.

Although rooted in Terceira, Afonso sees instrumental music as uniquely capable of transcending geography, language, and cultural boundaries. His aspiration is not merely to perform in new venues but to encounter new people, collaborate across cultures, and allow those experiences to shape the evolution of his own artistic voice.

In many ways, Jonathan Afonso’s musical journey reflects the timeless power of instrumental expression itself. Beginning only in adulthood, guided without formal instruction, and inspired by artists who taught him that sound alone can tell profound human stories, he has discovered that the guitar need not imitate the human voice. It can become one.

As Fire Within echoes across the volcanic stone walls of Forte de Santa Catarina and out over the Atlantic, audiences will hear more than a collection of compositions. They will encounter a musician who has learned that the deepest conversations are sometimes those carried not by language, but by silence, resonance, and the patient dialogue between emotion and sound.

Based on an interview in Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director. Photos from DI.