Gulbenkian Orchestra Soloists
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationOnline priority-booking is closed.
In-person ticket collection is available two hours prior to the event (available seats: 300).
In-person ticket collection is available two hours prior to the event (available seats: 300).
- Violin
- Viola
- Cello
- Double bass
- Flute
- Oboe
- Clarinet
- Bassoon
- French horn
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Maria Balbi
Violin
Maria Balbi was born into a family of musicians, in Lima, Peru. She began piano lessons at the age of three and violin at five. She attended the National Conservatory of Lyon in France, where she graduated with the Gold Medal in Violin. She later studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris with Jacques Ghestem, Alain Meunier and Christian Ivaldi, receiving first prizes in violin and chamber music. Afterwards she studied with Phillip Hirshorn and Viktor Liberman at the Hochschule von dem Kunsten in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and with Tibor Varga at the École des Archets in Sion, Switzerland.
As a soloist, she has played with the Orchestre d'Aubagne on a tour in France and with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. She regularly performs in Europe, Asia and the United States, including music festivals, where she has played with the Amsterdam Chamber Music Ensemble, the Moscow Piano Quartet and the Gulbenkian Orchestra Soloists.
In addition to her activities as a classical violinist, Maria Balbi founded the fado group Trinados, with which she toured in Portugal, Morocco, Spain, Brazil and the United States of America. She is a member of the Moscow Piano Quartet and first violin of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 1999.
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João Tiago Dinis
Viola
João Tiago Dinis was born in 1987 in Aveiro. In 2007, while still young, he joined the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, where he began his professional career. In 2023, he won a competition to become the B soloist for the Gulbenkian Orchestra’s viola section, which he still currently holds. He has also collaborated with various Portuguese and international orchestras such as the Kölner Kammerorchester, Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa and, as first viola, the Orquestra do Festival de Marvão, Orquestra Clássica de Espinho and the Sinfonietta de Ponta Delgada, among others. As a soloist, Dinis has performed with the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras and the University of Aveiro’s Orquestra de Cordas.
In the context of chamber music, he has collaborated with the Quarteto de Cordas de Aveiro, as one of its founders, and with the Quarteto da Orquestra Clássica do Centro.
Dinis studied for a music degree at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo do Porto (ESMAE) and at the University of Aveiro, where he won third place in the Frederico de Freitas Prize in 2017. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses and workshops at institutions around the country.
Dinis plays a viola by Luís Claudio Manfio, “Isola Di Torcello”, from 2020 and a viola by António Capela from 2009.
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Martin Henneken
Cello
Martin Henneken received his first cello lessons at the age of six. He studied at the Musikhochschule Lübeck (Germany) with Troels Svane. He later studied with Reinhard Latzko at the Vienna University of Music (Austria) where he completed his Master’s degree with distinction. Musicians such as cellist Lynn Harrell and violinist Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) complemented his training. He has won awards several times at the German National Young Musicians Competition. He was a student of the Live Music Now Foundation created by Yehudi Menuhin.
During his studies, he played regularly with various orchestras, such as the Lübeck Philharmonic, the Volksoper Wien Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of India, Mumbai. In 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna Philharmonic) with which he had the opportunity to participate in recordings, international tours and festivals (Salzburg, Lucerne, BBC Proms). Since 2010, he has been 2nd Cello Soloist of the Gulbenkian Orchestra.
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Domingos Ribeiro
Double Bass
Domingos Ribeiro was born in Macao in 1992. He began his musical studies with Cristina Costa at the Calouste Gulbenkian Conservatory of Music in Braga. He graduated in 2013 from the Lisbon Conservatory, in Manuel Rego's class. He later studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reine Sofía in Madrid with Duncan McTier and Antonio García Araque, with a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Albeniz Foundation. He was an academician with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, an orchestra with which he still works, collaborating regularly with Philipp Stubenrauch, Wies de Boevé, Heinrich Braun and Alexandra Scott. He also complemented his career by attending masterclasses or private lessons with Janne Saksala, Matthew McDonald, Rinat Ibragimov, Catalin Rotaru, Petru Iuga, Edicson Ruiz, Benedikt Hubner, Gary Karr, Iouri Axenov, Wolfgang Güttler, Hans Adler, Tom Goodman and others.
He played in a number of youth orchestras, most particularly the Orchestre de Jeunes de la Méditerranée and the European Union Youth Orchestra, in both of which he was Section Leader. He has been guest reinforcement for Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto - Casa da Música in 2014, the National Orchestra of Spain in 2016 and the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2017. In addition to these orchestras, he has also played with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon and Orquestra XXI, among others. He has worked with many conductors, including Mariss Janson, Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, Kirill Petrenko, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Riccardo Muti, John Eliot Gardiner, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Ton Koopman, David Afkham, Krzysztof Urbański, Christian Zacharias, Alain Altinoglu, Lahav Shani, Matthias Pintscher, Christian Macelaru, Susanna Malkki, Carlo Rizzi, Peter Eötvös, Bertrand de Billy, Pietari Inkinen, Juanjo Mena, Peter Stark, Vasili Petrenko, Lawrence Foster, Michael Zilm, Brad Lubman, Michael Sanderling, Enrico Pomàrico, James Judd and Olari Elts.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Lisbon Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and with the Camerata Gareguin Arantounian. He won the first edition of the Vasco Barbosa Competition in 2015, having performed solo at the Centro Cultural de Belém, with Camerata Atlântica, and recorded for RDP - Antena 2. In 2017, he was selected for the position of Leader of the Double Bass section - 1st Soloist - in the Gulbenkian Orchestra, a title he currently holds. He is in the 2nd year of his Masters in Music Teaching at Lisbon Conservatory. He is regularly invited to direct masterclasses and chamber music projects.
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Sónia Pais
Flute
Sónia Oliveira Pais (b. 1998) is the Gulbenkian Orchestra’s co-principal flute soloist. She is also currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) under Andrea Lieberknecht and is a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, a German youth orchestra.
She studied at the Mendelssohn-Orchesterakademie, the academy of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2021/22), during which she recorded a CD for Deutsche Grammophon of Schubert’s Symphonies No. 8 and 9 under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt.
Throughout her career, she has played for orchestras such as the Gustav Mahler Academy (2019 and 2020) and the Orquesta Joven de la Sinfonica de Galicia (2016). She was invited to play with the Dresdner Philharmonie, Tchaikovsky International Orchester Ekaterinburg, Orquestra Clássica de Espinho and the Orchester der Russisch-Deutsche MusikAkademie – a project led by Valery Gergiev in collaboration with the Mariinsky Orchestra.
Of the Portuguese and international competitions she has taken part in, she won 1st Prize and the prize for “Excellence” – category A at the Gondomar International Music Competition and 3rd Prize at Finland’s Tampere Flute Fest – Piccolo Orchestral Competition.
She began studying music at the age of 7 at the Sociedade Filarmónica Fraternidade de São João de Areias in Santa Comba Dão in Portugal. Two years later, she entered the Conservatório de Música e Artes do Dão and later enrolled at the Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho under Paulo Barros. In 2017, she was admitted into the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, in the class of Benoît Fromanger, where she graduated with a first class degree. During this period, she received a scholarship for artistic merit from the Lucia-Loeser Stipendium.
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Nelson Alves
Oboe
Nelson Alves has a first degree and a Master’s in Musical Performance from the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo do Porto (ESMAE), where he studied under Professor Ricardo Lopes. He began his musical studies at the Escola Profissional e Artística do Vale do Ave. He has attended several advanced courses in Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, and has had the opportunity to work with some of today’s most renowned oboists.
He has extensive lecturing experience and has taught at various levels of education, from initial to higher education. He is currently a teacher at the Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas of Castelo Branco Polytechnic Institute and at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra.
As a soloist, he has performed with Filarmonia das Beiras, Orquestra Artave, Sinfonieta ESMAE, Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa, Sinfonietta Köln and the orchestra of the Haute École de Musique Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève.
He has been 1st Auxiliary Soloist in the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 2006. Previously, he was a member of the Filarmonia das Beiras and has worked extensively with the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, as well as with other Portuguese ensembles and orchestras. He is frequently invited to give oboe master classes all over Portugal.
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Telmo Costa
Clarinet
Telmo began his musical studies when he was 7 years old with José Américo Belinha in Tuna Musical de São Paio de Oleiros. Then, he started studying with Hélder Tavares in Academia de Música de Paços de Brandão, where he finished highschool with distinction. He attended several masterclasses with António Saiote, Nuno Pinto, Florent Héau, François Benda, Kilian Herold, Harri Mäki, among others.
He was awarded with many prizes in national and international competitions, such as 1st Prize in “Concurso Luso-espanhol” (Fafe), 1st Prize in International Clarinet Competition APC, Golden Prize in Vienna International Music Competition, 1st Prize in North International Music Competition and 1st Prize in “Prémio Jovens Músicos”. In this very competition, he was awarded with three more prizes, the Young Musician of the Year (“Maestro Silva Pereira Prize”), European Union of Music Competitions for Youth Prize, and “Prémio Círculo Richard Wagner”.
As far as his orchestral experience is concerned, he took part in Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa (2013-2017), Estágio Gulbenkian para Orquestra (2017 and 2018), Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (2016 and 2018), Neue Philhamornie München (2018) and Schweizer Jugendsinfonieorchester (2018). He also collaborated with Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2019 he won the academy position in Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and 1st Soloist co-principal in Orquestra Gulbenkian. He is currently studying in Hochschule für Musik Basel in Switzerland with François Benda.
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Ricardo Ramos
Bassoon
Ricardo Ramos began his musical training at the ARTAVE School in 1997. He continued his studies at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo do Porto, under Hugues Kesteman. He also studied at Musikhochschule Lübeck, in Germany, with Pierre Martens. He was a member of several youth and professional orchestras: Orquestra Portuguesa das Escolas de Música, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, European Youth Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Hansestadt Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, REMIX Orquestra, Orquestra das Beiras and Orquestra do Norte. He has played under the baton of such important masters as Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kirill Petrenko, Michael Boder, Lawrence Foster, Michel Corboz, Ton Koopman and Bertrand de Billy, among others
As a soloist, he has played with the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Orquestra da Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo and the Norddeutsche Sinfonietta.
He won the Estoril Competition (2011) and the RDP Young Musicians Prize (2003 and 2008), the Helena Sá e Costa Competition (2005), the Possehl Wettbewerb Music Prize (2008) and the Porto Rotary Club Competition (2007). A prize from the Solti Foundation enabled him to participate in several events organised by the foundation in England.
Ricardo Ramos is a bassoon teacher on the Music Degree Programme at the Piaget Institute/ISEIT, in Almada. He has been leader of the bassoon section of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 2009.
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Luís Duarte Moreira
French horn
Luís Duarte Moreira was born in Paços de Ferreira in 1993. In 2005, he began his French horn studies at Escola Profissional Artística do Vale do Ave (ARTAVE) with Hélder Vales, where he finished with the highest level in his final recital. He also won the “Dr.ª Manuela Carvalho” prize, which is awarded to the best finalist student.
From 2011 to 2015, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in horn at Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto (ESMAE) with Bohdan Sebestik, Abel Pereira and Nuno Vaz, where he graduated with the highest level. In 2018 received his Master’s degree in horn from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler-Berlin, with Marie-Luise Neunecker, where he studied with a scholarship from the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Luís Duarte Moreira has performed in masterclasses with well-known horn players like José Bernardo Silva, David Johnson, Ricardo Matosinhos, Bruno Rafael, Paulo Guerreiro, David Thompson, Szabolcs Zempléni, Will Sanders, Kerry Turner, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Rodolfo Epelde Cruz, Stefan de Leval Jezierski, Jeff Nelsen, and Martin Owen.
In 2012 and 2014, he was awarded 1st prize at the Concurso Internacional de Instrumentos de Sopro “Terras de La-Salette” (Portugal). In 2016, he won 2nd prize (1st prize not given) in the “Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen” (Germany). In 2017, won 1st prize in the most important competition in Portugal, “Prémio Jovens Músicos” (PJM), and in the next year he was awarded an honorable mention at the “Prague Spring” competition (Czech Republic). In 2019, he won 1st prize at the “Concurso Internacional de Sopros do Alto Minho” (Portugal) in the highest brass category. He was co-founder and member of the wind quintet Klaue which won 2nd prize at the PJM, in the chamber music category, in 2015.
In 2012, he worked with the Fundação Orquestra Estúdio, the orchestra of the capital of culture in 2012 (Guimarães). He has performed in many youth orchestras, such as Orquestra Sinfónica APROARTE, Sinfónica da ESMAE, Estágio Gulbenkian para Orquestra, Orquestra Jovem Sinfónica da Galiza, Landesjugendorchester Bremen and Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. He collaborates regularly with Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa (BSP), Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, Orquestra XXI, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Ensemble Resonanz-Hamburgo, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto – Casa da Música, and Orquestra Sinfónica da Galiza.
He has performed as a soloist with Orquestra ARTAVE, Philharmonisches Orchester Plauen- Zwickau, Orquestra Gulbenkian, and Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa, and he was the horn teacher at the 1st and 2nd “Encontro Nacional de Jovens Músicos” (Vieira do Minho).
He has given masterclasses at the Universidade do Minho, Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian de Braga, Festival BSP Júnior, Conservatório d’Artes de Loures, Banda Marcial do Vale, Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho, Academia de Música de Castelo de Paiva (“Masters in Paiva”), and the ESMAE.
Currently, he teaches horn at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra and he is solo horn in Orquestra Gulbenkian.
Louis Spohr
Nonet in F major, op. 31
Bohuslav Martinů
Nonet No. 2, H. 374
The Gulbenkian Orchestra consists of musicians of great technical and artistic quality. Throughout the season, they also perform in free chamber music concerts, thus emerging from the anonymity of their roles within the orchestra. While making themselves much more visible, they also make a considerable contribution to a greater appreciation of chamber music as a whole, from the standard repertoire to the premieres of new works.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
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