Hugo Paiva began his musical studies at the Vale do Ave Artistic Professional School, in the cello class of Professor Petia Samardjieva. He had the opportunity to work with cellists such as Paulo Gaio Lima, Jed Barahal, Anatoli Krastev, Márcio Carneiro, Ilia Laporev, Pieter Wispelwey, Xavier Gagnepain, Maria de Macedo, Xavier Philips, Daniel Grosgurin, Jeroen Reuling, Nobuko Yamazaki, Eric-Maria Couturier, Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Marc Coppey, Claudio Bohórquez, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, among others.
In 2013, he completed his bachelor's degree at the National Superior Academy of Orchestra in the class of Paulo Gaio Lima, and later joined the MasterConcert at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Daniel Grosgurin/Ophélie Gaillard and chamber music class with Gábor Takács-Nagy.
In June 2014, he won the 3rd prize at the St. Cecilia Competition in Porto. In September 2015, he won the 3rd prize at the "Prémio jovens Músicos - Antena 2 / nível superior de violoncelo" competition. In the same year, he recorded for Ophélie Gaillard's album "Alvorada". In 2015, he joined the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA) under the direction of Maxim Vengerov, in the cello class of Pablo de Naveran, and was part of the Ensemble Menuhin Academy Soloists.
Hugo Paiva has performed at various festivals and important venues, such as the Istanbul Music Festival, Ohrid Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Pietra Santa in Concerto Festival, Festival du Printemps du Violon PARIS, Ensemble de Violoncelos de Santa Cristina, Crans Montana Classics, Lockenhaus Festival, KKL – Luzern (Switzerland), Mozarteum – Salzburg (Austria), Victoria Hall – Genève (Switzerland), BFM - Genève (Switzerland), Église Saneen – Saneen/Gstaad (Switzerland), Zorlu Center – Istanbul (Turkey), Kirchner Cultural Center – Buenos Aires (Argentina), Teatro El Circulo – Rosario (Argentina), Teatro Las Condes – Santiago (Chile), Casa de la Música – Quito (Ecuador), Rosey Concert Hall – Rolle (Switzerland), Burg Lockenhaus Castle - Lockenhaus (Austria), Oxford and Cambridge Club – London, Zentrum Paul Klee – Berne (Switzerland), CCB – Lisbon, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Auditorium – Lisbon, Casa da Música – Porto, Philharmonie de Paris, Palau de La Música (Barcelona), etc.
In 2018, together with pianist Mrika Sefa, he founded the Duo Litanei. In 2022, he completed his Master's degree in Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater 'Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy' Leipzig.
Hugo Paiva resides in Leipzig, where he regularly participates in chamber music projects and contemporary music ensembles.