Born in Portugal, Diogo Costa is a rising star conductor with a vast repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music.

Generously supported by an Ann Gerrard Bursary, he completed his Masters in Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Northern College of Music with Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. He had the opportunity to work as assistant conductor for Juanjo Mena, John Storgårds, Sir Andrew Davis, Nicholas Collon and Ben Gernon at the BBC Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Diogo began his studies as a conductor in 2010 at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra – Metropolitana with Professor Jean-Marc Burfin in Lisbon. In the last few years, he has taken part in conducting masterclasses with Sir Mark Elder, Martyn Brabbins, Douglas Bostock, Laurence Marks, José Vilaplana and Jean-Sébastien Béreau, during which he conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Manchester Camerata and Argovia Philharmonic.

As a guest conductor he appeared with The Hallé Orchestra at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the BBC Philharmonic, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with a world premiere by Andrew Lewis. In Portugal, Diogo Costa has recently been invited to conduct the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and the Orquestra Gulbenkian (as assistant conductor to Lorenzo Viotti in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette).

As a trombonist, he played with the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras, the Portuguese Symphonic Wind Band, the Orquestra Académica Metropolitana and the West European Studio Orchestra. He also has a special interest in jazz, performing and recording with the Jazz Orchestra of the Hot Club de Portugal, Reunion Big Jazz Band and Claus Nymark Big Band where he played with renowned jazz musicians such as Benny Golson, Perico Sambeat and John Ellis.