Gulbenkian Orchestra Soloists
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Violin
- Violin
- Viola
- Cello
- Flute
- Clarinet
- Piano
- Carolina Coimbra Harp
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Ana Beatriz Manzanilla
Violin
The Venezuelan violinist Ana Beatriz Manzanilla has been a member of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 1996. She was born in Barquisimeto and was trained in Venezuela's Youth Orchestra System "El Sistema" with José Francisco del Castillo. She also studied with Ron Rogoff and attended the European Mozart Academy in Krakow (Poland). She has followed a diverse professional career, including performances in recitals and concerts. She has played with the most important orchestras in her own country, such as the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Municipal Orchestra of Caracas, as well as the National Orchestra of Panama, the Munich Youth Orchestra and the Rhodanien Philharmonic Orchestra (in France). In Portugal, she has worked with Gulbenkian Orchestra, Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orquestra do Algarve, Sinfonietta de Lisboa and Orquestra Clássica do Centro. She has performed as a soloist in several countries in Latin America and Europe.
She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Camerata Atlântica and teaches violin at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. She has devoted a great deal of her work to young people, particularly within the Projeto Geração. She joined the Orquestra Estágio Gulbenkian in 2013 as a tutor. In 2015, she created the Concurso Nacional de Cordas Vasco Barbosa, of which she is the director. She also works in preparing the string sections of the Orquestra Sinfónica Juvenil and the Nova Ópera de Lisboa.
For several years, she was an assistant concertmaster for the Lara Symphony Orchestra (Venezuela). She was also concertmaster of the Orquestra do Norte. She has recorded two albums with duos for violin and viola, and with the Gulbenkian Orchestra she recorded Mozart's Concerto for Violin in G major, in the year in which the orchestra celebrated its 50th anniversary.
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Maria José Laginha
Violin
Maria José Laginha was born in Lisbon. She studied at the Fundação Musical dos Amigos das Crianças and the Escola Profissional Artística do Vale do Ave (Artave) with Filomena Cardoso, Leonor Prado, Alberto Gaio Lima and Suzanne Lidegran. With a scholarship from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, she completed her studies with Aníbal Lima at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra. She won the Prémio Jovens Músicos in 2005. She has attended masterclasses by Christoph Schikedanz (Kissingen Sommer), Roman Nodel, Igor Oistrakh, Igor Volochine, Chistophe Poiget (Rencontres Musicales en Lorraine), Boris Kuniev, Daniel Rowland (Stift International Music Festival), Richard Gwilt (Baroque violin), Alexei Mijlin and Felix Andrievsky.
During her formative years, she joined several youth orchestras, such as the European Union Youth Orchestra and the World Orchestra, and toured worldwide. She also played with the Orquestra Aproarte, Sinfonietta de Lisboa, Lisbon Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa and played solo with the Orquestra Artave, the Filarmonia da Beiras and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. She has been a member of the Camerata Atlântica since its creation in 2013. She was a teacher with the Orquestra Geração. She has been a member of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 2007.
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Francisca Fins
Viola
Graduated at the Superior School of Music of Lisbon, Portugal. She studied with Alberto Gaio Lima, Aníbal Lima, Olga Prats, and attended violin courses with Gerardo Ribeiro, Boris Kuniev, Yfrah Neaman, Lydia Mordkovich, Angélique Loyer, Jan Dobrzelewski and David Lefévre. And viola with Anabela Chaves e Amichai Grosz.
Francisca collaborates frequently as a guest musician with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Sinfonietta Orchestra of Lisbon, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Orchestra, Portuguese Chamber Orchestra, Sintra Orchestra, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestras and Tejo National Orchestra, of which she was the concertmaster. Francisca is a founding member of Camerata Atlântica. The ensemble just realised a new recording of Portuguese Music for the Naxos label.
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Jeremy Lake
Cello
Jeremy Lake began studying cello at the age of ten. In 1986, with a Royal College of Music scholarship, he studied with Joan Dickson in London. The Martin Musical Trust award allowed him to continue to attend the Royal College. He has been awarded several prizes, particularly in the fields of chamber music and contemporary music. He was chosen by the Royal College of Music to participate in a cello ensemble with the celebrated Mstislav Rostropovitch, playing music by Heitor Villa-Lobos. At the same time, he founded a piano trio with his father, the pianist Ian Lake, and violinist Frances Mason, both teachers at the Royal College of Music. In 1991, he was a finalist for the European Music for Youth competition, taking part in the final at London's Purcell Room.
He has played with various orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has also played in concerts as a soloist and given solo recitals at various music festivals in Great Britain, Denmark and Portugal. He was a member of the Alba String Quartet and Delphos Music Group International, with whom he toured extensively throughout Europe.
In 1998, he joined the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and was a teacher at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra. He began his association with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in 2001, and became a permanent member in 2005.
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Cristina Ánchel
Flute
Cristina Ánchel Estebas was born in Spain and began to study flute at the Torrent Conservatory of Music in Valencia, where she obtained the highest classifications. She continued her training at the Oscar Esplá Conservatory in Alicante, where she graduated with the highest mark. She also attended further training courses at the Mozarteum Salzburg and at the Bachakademie Stuttgart. In 2001 she won the Pedro Bote International Music Competition in Villafranca de los Barros.
She has worked with several orchestras including European Symphony Orchestra, Valencia Classical Orchestra, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, Orquesta de Camara Reina Sofia, Malaga Symphony Orchestra, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, Asturias Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia de Bilbau, Madrid Symphony Orchestra and the National Orchestra of Spain. As a soloist, she has played works by Mozart, Ibert, C. P. E. Bach and J. S. Bach, with the Orchestra of the University of Valencia and the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Carl Nielsen Chamber Ensemble, she has performed at music festivals all over Spain.
Between 2000 and 2007, Cristina Ánchel was a flute soloist with the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra. She is now 1st soloist at the Gulbenkian Orchestra, which she joined in 2007.
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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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Morta Grigaliūnaitė
Piano
Born in 1991, Morta started playing the piano at the age of eight at Pasvalys Music School, where her first teacher was Lolita Trepekūnienė. After having met the legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who encouraged her to pursue a career in music, she moved to Vilnius to study at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts with Jūratė Karosaitė. In 2008, Morta entered the Purcell School of Music in the United Kingdom, where she held a scholarship under the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme and studied piano with William Fong. Two years later, she was awarded a full scholarship to study with Hamish Milne at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After having graduated with a First Class degree, Morta continued her education with Claudio Martinez Mehner at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and Dmitri Bashkirov at Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.
Morta has been awarded the Mstislav Rostropovich Help and Support Foundation, Michel Sogny Foundation “SOS Talents”, Fundación Albéniz and Yamaha Pianos scholarships. She has won numerous prizes and awards such as 2nd prize in Karlrobert-Kreiten-Klavierwettbewerb, Sterndale Bennett Prize for the best Romantic music recital, 1st prize at the International EPTA Piano Competition in Belgium, 1st prize at the International Sigulda Music Competition in Latvia, Harry Isaacs Piano Trio Prize, Douglas Cameron Chamber Music Prize, special prize for the most artistic performance at the International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition in Lithuania, as well as Dorothy Bryant, Frances Earle, Sydney Kenneth Brindle and Jean Ginsburg awards for outstanding studentship at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
With performances broadcast live in 40 countries through the classical music channel Mezzo, Morta has established herself as an active soloist and chamber musician. Since the release of her debut album in 2019, she continues to receive outstanding reviews for her interpretation of piano works by Grażyna Bacewicz.
Morta first came to public attention in 2005, when she performed at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius at Mstislav Rostropovich’s invitation. Since then, she has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the National Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra, St. Christopher’s Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Georgian State Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and the Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra. Morta has performed with such distinguished artists as the renowned violin pedagogue Zakhar Bron, former solo oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic Hansjörg Schellenberger and Valentin Erben, a founding member of the Alan Berg Quartet. She has given concerts in various venues including Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St. John’s Smith Square, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, National Gallery in London, Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Colston Hall in Bristol, Batumi Centre of Arts in Georgia, Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall in Baku and others. Morta currently holds a teaching position at The Purcell School of Music, Great Britain’s oldest specialist music school.
Maurice Ravel
Introduction et Allegro (for harp, strings quartet, clarinet and flute)
Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du temps (for violin, cello, clarinet and piano)
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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