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Bernardo Santos

"A very talented pianist with undeniable qualities" (Bachtrack)

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"A pianist whose animated playing brings vibrancy and clarity to the duo, ably supporting as needed and shining out in soloistic moments" (Piano Journal)

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"Virtuoso prodigy" (The Guardian)

BIOGRAPHY

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Portuguese pianist Bernardo Santos has been performing widely in recital, with orchestra and as a chamber musician, with performances ranging over 20 countries in venues such as the Casa da Música and Convento de São Francisco in Portugal, Palau de la Musica Catalana and Teatro Liceo in Spain, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Fairfield Halls in London, Sala São Paulo, Sala Cecília Meireles in Brazil, Teatro Degollado in Mexico, among many others, being regularly invited to festivals all over Europe, South America and Asia.

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As an invited soloist with orchestra, Bernardo had the opportunity to play with the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Metropolitan Orchestra, Filharmonia Podkarpacka Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Cali Philharmonic Orchestra, Vidin State Philarmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, among others. He has played under the baton of conductors such as Carlos Vieu, Charles Gambetta, Ernst Schelle, Jorge Mario Uribe, Kira Omelchenko, Ligia Amadio, Osvaldo Ferreira, Rui Miguel Marques, Sergio Alapont, Silvio Viegas, among others.

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Bernardo recorded, for Japanese label Da Vinci Publishing, works for piano and orchestra (Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Manuel de Falla and Nights in the Streets of Mouraria by Ruy Coelho), the violin and piano sonatas by Edvard Grieg, piano quintets by Saint-Saëns and Dvorak and works for two pianos by Piazzolla, Infante and Ravel. For MPMP label, Bernardo recorded piano works by Portuguese composer Ruy Coelho.

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As a chamber musician, Bernardo studied under guidance of Antonio Chagas Rosa, Eugene Asti and Martino Tirimo. Bernardo frequently collaborates with other artists such as Artur Pizarro, Pascal Rogé and Deniz Arman Gelenbe. He also has a long time partnership with cellist Burak Özkan, with whom Santos actively plays as a duo and other ensemble formations.

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​Bernardo complements his artistic career with research on Portuguese composers Berta Alves de Sousa and Frederico de Freitas, being responsible for the critical edition and publishing of works by both composers. The main object of research now incides on the music for piano by Portuguese composer Ruy Coelho. Bernardo gave masterclasses in several festivals, universities and music schools in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Vietnam.​Bernardo Santos is currently taking part of the Doctoral Programme in Music Performance (PhD) at the University of Aveiro, being a research fellow at INET-md.

 

Bernardo graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, Ljubljana Academy of Music, Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona and from the University of Aveiro (Aveiro City Prize), having studied with Dubravka Tomsic, Deniz Gelenbe, Josep Colom, Álvaro Teixeira Lopes and Klara Dolynay.​Bernardo Santos is the president of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA) Portugal, co-founder and co-director of Festival Internacional de Piano y Orquesta de Guadalajara (FIPOG) in Mexico and Artistic Director of the “Ciclos Lua Nova” concert series, hosted by Fundação Dionísio Pinheiro e Alice Cardoso Pinheiro, in Águeda, Portugal.

© 2023 by Bernardo Santos. All Rights Reserved.

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