Bernardo Santos
Pianist
Portuguese pianist Bernardo Santos has been performing widely as a recitalist and chamber musician, with performances ranging over more than twenty countries in venues such as the Casa da Música, Convento de São Francisco, Teatro da Trindade and Teatro Rivoli in Portugal, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Fairfield Halls and St. James Piccadilly Church in London, Sala Cecília Meireles, Teatro Amazonas and Palácio das Artes in Brazil, Sala Sudasiri Sobha in Thailand, Teatro Degollado in Mexico, among many others.
Portuguese pianist Bernardo Santos has been performing widely as a recitalist and chamber musician, with performances ranging over more than twenty countries in venues such as the Casa da Música, Convento de São Francisco, Teatro da Trindade and Teatro Rivoli in Portugal, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Fairfield Halls and St. James Piccadilly Church in London, Sala Cecília Meireles, Teatro Amazonas and Palácio das Artes in Brazil, Sala Sudasiri Sobha in Thailand, Teatro Degollado in Mexico, among many others, having been invited to festivals all over Europe, South America and Asia. Several of his concerts were recorded for Portuguese classical radio Antena 2 and his recordings have been featured in Colombian radio Señal Clásica, Brazilian Radio MEC and TV Brasil and Classic FM. The Guardian mentions him as a virtuoso prodigy.
As an invited soloist with orchestra, Bernardo had the opportunity to play with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra, Cali Philharmonic Orchestra, Vidin State Philarmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, among others. He has played under the baton of conductors such as António Vassalo Lourenço, Charles Gambetta, Ernst Schelle, Hilo Carriel, Jorge Mario Uribe, Kira Omelchenko, Marcelo de Jesus, Pedro Carneiro, Sílvio Viegas, and others.
Bernardo complements his artistic career with research on Portuguese composers Berta Alves de Sousa and Frederico de Freitas, being responsible for the critical edition and publishing of works by both composers. The main object of research now incides on the music for piano by Portuguese composer Ruy Coelho. Bernardo gave masterclasses in several universities and music schools in Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico and Vietnam.
As a chamber musician, Bernardo studied under guidance of Antonio Chagas Rosa, Eugene Asti and Martino Tirimo. Bernardo frequently collaborates with artists in several forms of chamber ensembles, having taken part in chamber projects such as the CD “Curtas” of the composer and guitar player Israel Costa Pereira. For Japanese label Da Vinci Publishing, Bernardo recorded the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Edvard Grieg, alongside David Lloyd, being praised as a pianist whose “animated playing brings vibrancy and clarity to the duo, ably supporting as needed and shining out in soloistic moments” (Piano Journal 2021), and also the piano quintets by Saint-Saëns and Dvorak Piano Quintets with Belém Quartet.
Bernardo Santos is currently taking part of the Doctoral Programme in Music Performance (PhD) at the University of Aveiro. Bernardo graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, Ljubljana Academy of Music, Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona and from the University of Aveiro (Aveiro City Prize), having studied with Dubravka Tomsic, Deniz Gelenbe, Josep Colom, Álvaro Teixeira Lopes and Klara Dolynay. During his studies, Bernardo Santos has been a Trinity College London Scholar and recipient of scholarships from Fundação GDA, Fundação Dionísio Pinheiro e Alice Cardoso Pinheiro and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT).
As of 2022, Bernardo Santos is the president of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA) Portugal and Artistic Director of the “Ciclos Lua Nova” concert series, hosted by Fundação Dionísio Pinheiro e Alice Cardoso Pinheiro, in Águeda, Portugal.