Gulbenkian Orchestra Soloists
Mozart and Beethoven
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Oboe
- Oboe
- Clarinet
- Clarinet
- Bassoon
- Maria Castro Bassoon
- French horn
- French horn
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Alice Caplow-Sparks
Oboe / Cor anglais
Alice Caplow-Sparks began playing oboe at the age of twelve in her hometown of Seattle. She continued her studies in Mexico City for a year, then returning to Seattle where she was a student of the oboist Alex Klein. At the age of eighteen, she left Seattle to pursue her studies at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio with James Caldwell. During her time there, she was actively involved with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, as well as other chamber music ensembles and orchestras. Her keen interest in chamber music first developed during a tour of Paris with the Oberlin Woodwind Quintet. After completing her degree, she entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she attended classes and completed her Masters with Richard Killmer. While at Eastman, she commissioned an original work for oboe and string trio from the composer Gregory Mertl, which she premièred in her graduation recital. She then travelled to Paris, where she studied with David Walter at the Conservatoire. In 2004, she joined the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and she is currently a member of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, where she has played oboe and English horn since 2006.
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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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Iva Barbosa
Clarinet
Iva Barbosa began studying music with her father. She later studied at the Music Conservatory of Oporto and at ESMAE, with Adam Wierzba and António Saiote, respectively. She has been an award winner in over a dozen competitions, in particular, first prizes received at the 12th Estoril Interpretation Competition / El Corte Inglês Award, at the Young Musicians Award, at the 1st International Clarinet Competition of Oporto and at the Rotary International Young Revelation Competition. She received second place in the international Young Artist Competition, in Utah (USA), at the International Villa de Montroy Competition, in Valencia, and was a semi-finalist in the international “Prague Spring” competition.
As a soloist, she has played with various orchestras, including: National Orchestra of Oporto, Academic Orchestra of Oporto, Gulbenkian Orchestra, ESMAE Orchestra, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, Beiras Philharmonic and the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra.
She has been invited to give master classes on the International Music Courses of Guimarães, the Oliveira do Bairro Summer Courses, at the Costa Cabral Academy of Music, the Piaget Institute of Mirandela, the Regional Conservatory of Vila Real, the Academy of Avintes, the Espinho Professional School of Music, the Conservatory of Music of Portalegre, the Las Palmas Conservatory and the Tenerife Conservatory. She is 1st Soloist at the Gulbenkian Orchestra and a founder member of the Vintage Quartet.
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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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Vera Dias
Fagote
Vera Dias nasceu a 3 de abril de 1986 na cidade de Guimarães. Aos 12 anos de idade ingressou na Escola Profissional Artística do Vale do Ave – ARTAVE, onde iniciou os seus estudos musicais na classe de fagote do professor Jesus Coelho. Posteriormente estudou com o professor Paulo Martins, com quem terminou o Curso de Instrumentista de Sopro, tendo-lhe sido atribuído o prémio Dra. Manuela Carvalho pelo seu desempenho ao longo do curso. Aos 18 anos foi admitida na Staatliche Hochschule für Musik – Karlsruhe, na classe de fagote do professor Günter Pfitzenmaier. Concluiu em 2008 a licenciatura na Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, na classe do professor Arlindo Santos. Frequentou cursos de aperfeiçoamento com os fagotistas Günter Pfitzenmaier, Henning Trog e Paulo Martins, entre outros.
Colaborou com a Orquestra Portuguesa das Escolas de Música, a Orquestra Aproarte, a Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, a Orquestra de Câmara da Staatliche Hochschule für Musik – Karlsruhe, a Orquestra de Câmara de Pforzheim, a Orquestra de Câmara de Estugarda, a Orquestra Sinfonieta de Lisboa e a Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, entre outras, sob a direção dos maestros Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lorenzo Viotti, Hannu Lintu, David Afkham, Réne Jacobs, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Lawrence Foster, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Michel Corboz, Paavo Järvi, Péter Eötvös, Rudolf Barshai e Simone Young, entre outros, efetuando concertos em toda a Europa e no Oriente.
Em 2003 e 2004 foi selecionada para integrar a Escola de Verão da Orquestra de Jovens da União Europeia, tendo-a apenas frequentado em 2004, já que em 2003 declinou a oportunidade para poder concorrer ao Prémio Jovens Músicos, da RDP, onde recebeu o 1.º Prémio – Nível Superior, na modalidade de Fagote. Como consequência do seu desempenho no concurso, tocou a solo com a Orquestra Gulbenkian. Em 2004 foi 2.º Prémio no concurso Landespolizei, em Karlsruhe. Em 2004 gravou para a rádio alemã SWR um arranjo inédito do próprio Mozart para Octeto de sopros da ópera O Rapto do Serralho. Foi bolseira da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian de 2003 a 2006.
Uma das suas grandes paixões é a música de câmara, colaborando sobretudo em quinteto de sopros. O seu Trio Euterpe (oboé, fagote e piano) teve um período muito prolífero, tendo-lhe sido dedicada uma obra do compositor Sérgio Azevedo, estreada no Palácio Foz, em Lisboa.
Tocou a solo com várias orquestras, incluindo a Orquestra Clássica da Madeira e a Orquestra Gulbenkian, sob a direção dos maestros Rui Massena e Krzysztof Urbański. Desde 2018 é docente na Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra nas disciplinas de Fagote, Música de Câmara e Unidade Curricular de Orquestra - Octeto de Madeiras. Desde setembro de 2006, é 1.º Solista da Orquestra Gulbenkian.
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Antonia Chandler
French horn
Antonia Chandler began playing the horn at the age of 11 in her hometown of Seattle, Washington, USA, where she studied with Bob DeCou and Mike Hettwer. When she was 18 years old she moved to Ohio to study with Roland Pandolfi at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree with Kappa Lambda Honors. She then moved to Connecticut to study with Bill Purvis at the Yale School of Music, where she earned the degrees of Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts. During her studies, she performed with the New World Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, and the Princeton Symphony, as well as attended many summer music festivals including Music Academy of the West, Round Top Festival Institute, Atlantic Music Festival, and Lake George Music Festival.
After graduating from Yale, Antonia moved to London where was a horn fellow with the chamber orchestra Southbank Sinfonia, and for the 2021-2022 season she also performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as 2nd horn trialist.
An avid chamber musician, she has toured with the Frisson Ensemble, a nine-piece chamber ensemble based in New York City and performed as a soloist with the Silver Bay String Quartet (NY) and the Oberlin Sinfonietta. She also enjoys historical performance on baroque and classical horns and was recently the baroque horn soloist in a performance of Bach B Minor Mass with the Parliament Choir in London. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Vienna Musikverein, the Philharmonie de Paris and the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
Antonia won the audition for low horn soloist in Orquestra Gulbenkian in September 2021, and moved to Lisbon later that year. She has been a permanent member of the orchestra since November 2022.
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Kenneth Best
French Horn
Kenneth Best was born in the United States of America, where he attended Indiana University from 1988 to 1991, under the guidance of Myron Bloom, a solo horn with the Cleveland Orchestra, and obtained a Bachelor degree of Music. During his studies he had the opportunity to work with several orchestras such as the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the Owensboro Symphony. He has also played with the Tanglewood Festival Youth Orchestra (summer residence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), where he worked with renowned artists including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa and Yo-Yo Ma. He came to Portugal in 1992, after an invitation to take up the position of 1st horn for the Nova Filarmonia Portuguesa. In the same year, he joined the Gulbenkian Orchestra as 1st Soloist.
In the field of chamber music, he has performed with several ensembles in Portugal and abroad, with particular emphasis on the Ensemble Instrumental de Lausanne (Switzerland), the Ensemble Mediterrane (Germany), the Moscow Piano Quartet and the Decateto de Metais de Lisboa, as well as appearances in the Community Concert Series (USA) and in the Gulbenkian Orchestra Soloists cycle. He has also participated in early music projects with period instruments, in collaboration with the ensembles Segréis de Lisboa, Músicos do Tejo, Divino Sospiro and Bloomington Baroque Orchestra.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Rondino in E-flat major, WoO 25
Ludwig van Beethoven
Wind Octet in E-flat major, op. 103
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Menuetto
4. Presto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade in C minor, K. 388
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Menuetto in canone
4. Allegro
The Gulbenkian Orchestra consists of professional 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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