Born in Aveiro, Gonçalo Lélis began his musical studies at the age of 6 at the Music Conservatory of his hometown in the class of Isabel Boiça. He later studied with Natalia Shakhovskaya and Ivan Monighetti at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid. He completed his bachelor in 2017, under the guidance of Pavel Gomziakov, at the University of Minho, in Braga. He is currently attending postgraduate studies (Konzertexamen) in the class of Professor Xenia Jankovic, at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold (Germany), where he obtained the highest classification in his master’s recital.

He won prizes at several competitions, such as “Prémio Jovens Músicos” (2015, 1st Prize in the Cello Category and the “EMCY” Prize), “Vasco Barbosa String Competition” (2016, 1st Prize), “International Competition of the City of Fundão” ( 2017, 1st Prize), “Agustin Aponte International Competition” (2018, Spain, 1st Prize). Gonçalo Lélis performs regularly in Portugal, highlighting recitals at the Centro Cultural de Belém, Casa da Música or Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and solo concerts with the Orquestra das Beiras, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orquestra Gulbenkian or with Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.

Between 2014 and 2019, as the cellist of the Ramales Trio, formed in Madrid, he performed  at some of the most important concert halls in Spain, including the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Palau de la Música in Barcelona. This group also participated in several competitions, winning the 1st Prize at the “Ecoparque de Trasmiera International Chamber Music Competition” (Cantabria, Spain) or the 2nd Prize at the “Anton García Abril International Chamber Music Competition”. In 2019, the Ramales Trio performed at the Wigmore Hall, in London, as finalists of the “Parkhouse Award” competition. Another highlight of his chamber music activity is a quartet recital with works by Mozart and Dvořák at the Weill Recital Hall of the Carnegie Hall in 2022.

Since 2021, he has been the cellist of the “ars ad hoc” ensemble, which dedicates itself to contemporary chamber music, as well as representative works from the classical repertoire. He received scholarships from Fundación Carolina, Fundación Albéniz and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.