About
Biography
Picture rights: Jorge Carmona, Antena 2
Born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1994, Pedro Borges is considered one of the most prominent Portuguese young musicians of his generation.
He began his piano studies at the age of six at the Gaia Regional Conservatory and showed a great talent for music from an early age. However, during his career, it wasn’t always clear that he was going to be a pianist, until at the age of 13, after his first in-depth contact with the music of W.A. Mozart, where he felt he had something important to say. It was then that he moved to the class of Professor Rui Pintão and decided that his profession was gonna be what it is today.
During those three years, he took part in various national competitions where he achieved all kinds of results, from honorable mention to first prize. At one of the competitions, he met Moldovan teacher Serghei Covalenco, with whom he had been working privately several times. At the age of 17, he met Professor Miguel Borges Coelho, with whom he studied for four years at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo in Porto. In addition to his inspiring and thoughtful piano lessons, several important activities in his development are worth highlighting, such as his two-year engagement as a choir member at CLUP – a local choir in Porto consisting mostly of amateur musicians – working closely under the guidance of the conductor José Luís Borges Coelho; various chamber music activities with Professor Ryszard Woycicki; and the musical analysis lessons with Professor Miguel Ribeiro Pereira.
After completing his studies in Porto, Pedro moved to Switzerland to study with the prestigious professor Claudio Martínez-Mehner at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel. He was as well accepted into Professor Anton Kernjak’s chamber music class and works with both of them in a long and in-depth process over six years. In 2020 he was awarded the Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Musikpreis in Bern (pre-lockdown) and also the Ageas New Talents Award in Porto (post- lockdown), and since then he has performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in Portugal and Europe, appearing at venues such as the Theatro Circo, Casa da Música, Palau de la Música Catalana, the Muziekgebouw, and at various international classical music festivals. Private and intimate performances such as house concerts or concerts in smaller venues are very much appreciated in Pedro’s concert life. As a student, he performed several times in private house concerts, as well as in nursing homes.
During the summers of 2018 and 2019, Pedro was invited to participate in the chamber music festival “Yellow Barn” in the United States of America, performing a series of seven concerts each edition. His performances were described by the artistic director Seth Knopp as “memorable”. He was also part of the teaching faculty of the “Young Artists Program” in 2019, where he coached high-talented young musicians in several chamber music groups.
He has appeared on stage with important musical personalities, including violinist Anthony Marwood in quartet, pianist Pedro Burmester in four hands, as well as cellist John Myerscough, with whom he collaborated closely with Australian composer Brett Dean.
In 2021, he was accepted at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin to study in the class of the highly renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein, with whom he studied for two years. In September 2022, he won an award from the Steinway Berlin after a successful concert at the piano house in the German capital.
Being hard as it is to play as a soloist with orchestra, Pedro was given this luxury twice, both in his hometown at the age of 17. His third opportunity was given to him again in February 2024, having performed Brahms’ 1st Piano Concerto in Porto, after earning the “Helena Sá e Costa Prize” in his alma mater ESMAE the previous year.
Alongside his work as a concert pianist, Pedro is a piano teacher at the Musikschule Riehen in Basel, where he lives since 2016.
“Con passione, that is how one could describe the general interpretation with which Pedro Borges approaches Brahms: not dragging, inwardly moved, striving to harmonise the line play with the poetic-emotional developments: right up to the last intermezzo, a dark E-flat minor Dies-irae conclusion, after which there are first a few seconds of silence. (…)”
Dr. Frank Piontek, Kulturbrief aus Bayreuth, July 2022, Brahms Op. 118
Picture rights: Jorge Carmona, Antena 2
Next Concerts – 2024
October 11 – Portugal
XXI Orchestra’s chamber-music tour with David Silva and José Nunes | brahms, Kurtág, Bruch | Faro, algarve music series
October 12 – Portugal
XXI Orchestra’s chamber-music tour with David Silva and José Nunes | brahms, Kurtág, Bruch | lisbon, palácio da ajuda
October 13 – Portugal
XXI Orchestra’s chamber-music tour with David Silva and José Nunes | brahms, Kurtág, Bruch | Matosinhos, Casa da Arquitectura
October 30 – Switzerland
Recital with ariadna chmelik | schumann, Manuel de falla, shostakovich | zwinglikirche biel/Bienne
November 28 – Portugal
Piano Recital | Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven, Kurtág, Stravinsky | Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, lisbon
December 7 – Portugal
Recital with pedro burmester | schubert, beethoven | auditório de melres, gondomar
Past Concerts
June 15 – Switzerland
Trio recital with Antonio Viñuales and Elisa Siber | Frank Martin, Bloch, Saint-Saëns | alte rum fabrik, basel
June 14 – Switzerland
Trio recital with Antonio Viñuales and Elisa Siber | Frank Martin, Bloch, Saint-Saëns | cheesmeyer, sissach
May 13 – Portugal
Piano recital | Schubert, Debussy, Manuel de Falla | Museu do Oriente, lisbon
April 3 – Switzerland
Mimiko Concert Series | Recital with music by Haydn and Schubert | Elisabethenkirche, basel
March 4 – Spain
Stravinsky – Trois movements de Pétrouchka, with dancer Andrea Tortosa | Fundación Mediterráneo Alicante
February 23-24 – Portugal
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 | ESMAE Symphony Orchestra, Jan Wierzba | Teatro Helena Sá e Costa, porto
Videos
Contact Info
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Thank you for your interest. If you want to get in touch, please do it via e-mail to: contact@pedro-borges.com
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