Sérgio Silva

Born in Lisbon, Sérgio Silva began to study organ at the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon, under João Vaz and António Esteirero. After finishing a degree in information technology and managment at the ISCTE, he took a licentiate degree in music, specifically in organ performance, at the University of Évora, under the supervision of João Vaz, on the theme “The tentosde meio registo and the batalhas of Pedro de Araújo: questons of authorship and critical edition”, under the suervision of João Vaz and João Pedro d’Alvarenga. In addition, his tradining was completed by his contact with internationally renowned musicians such as José Luís González Uriol, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Jan Wilhelm Jansen, Hans-Ola Ericsson and Kristian Olesen. He has performed as a soloist in various places in Portugal and in Spain, notably in the Lisbon International Organ Festival, the Organ Days in Saragossa and in the Inaugural Concerts of the Six Organs of the Royal Basilica of Mafra. As an ensemble player, he has collaborated with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Choir, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Choir of the São Carlos National Theatre, Capella Patriarchal, Voces Caelestes, Introitus, Sete Lágrimas and others. He is currently professor of organ at the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon and at the Diocesan School of Sacred Music in Lisbon, and is titular organist of the Basílica da Estrela and the Church of St Nicholas (Lisbon).

Patrycja Gabrel

Patrycja Gabrel began her musical education at the age of seven, becoming a member, at eleven, of the Schola Cantorum Bialostociensis, one of the best female choirs in Poland. She graduated in singing from the Fryderyk Chopin Music Conservatory in Warsaw, and continued her training at the Escuela Superior Reina Sofia in Madrid under Tom Krause, also studying with Riri Greist, Teresa Berganza and Charles Kellis. Having been awarded grants from the Polish Ministry of Culture and the Escuela Superior Reina Sofia, she won the Alfredo Kraus Singing Prize for Young Musicians, and the Radio Poland 2 Prize in the “Art of Contemporary Song” competition. She has performed on all the main stages of Poland, including the Warsaw Opera Theatre and the Warsaw Philharmonia, and in halls in a number of European countries, such as the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Palau de la Musicai n Barcelona. In Portugal, she first appeared in March 2011 in the Large Auditorium of the Gulbenkian Foundation, in the role of Solvei gin Greig’s Peer Gynt Suite, with the Gulbenkian Orchestra. She currently works with the Gulbenkian Choir.

Carolina Figueiredo

Studied singing at the Music School of the National Conservatory of Lisbon, in the class of Filomena Amaro in 2005. She now works regularly with Manuela de Sá. She has taken part in masterclasses and workshops with Lusica Mazzaria, Tom Krause and João Paulo Santos, and frequently attends workshops organized by the European Network of Opera Academies (ENOA) organized by the Gulbenkian Foundation. In concert, she has appeared as soloist in The Messiah by Handel, the Coronation Mass, the Missa Brevis in C major and the MIssa Brevis in G major by Mozart, the Te Deum by Sousa Carvalho, the Helingenmesse by Haydn, the Gloria by Vivaldi, a number of sacred works by Bach, Purcell, Schütz, Fauré, Francisco António de Almeida and Carlos Seixas. She also gives regular solo recitals of sacred music, both baroque and romantic. In opera, she has appeared in Bastien e Bastienne by Mozart (Bastien), Faust by Gounod (Marthe), Peer Gynt by Grieg (Shepherdess) and Turandot by Busoni (Vorsangerinnen). She has worked under the direction of Martin André, Moritz Gnann, Michael Corboz, Jorge Matta, António Lourenço, Jorge Alves and José Robert, in collaboration with the Divino Sospiro Orchestra, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Orchestra of the North and the Orchestra of the Algarve. Future projects include participation in Mozart’s Bastien et Bastienne (with the Orchestra of the North – November 2012), Alfredo Keil’s Irene (São Carlos National Theatre – November 2012), Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Ninfa) with the Divino Sospiro Orchestra (February 2013) and Respighi’s Il Tramonto, in the Gulbenkian Orchestra soloists’ cycle (June 2013).

Ana Raquel Pinheiro

Began her ‘cello studies at the Professional Arts School of Beja Interior in the class of Rogério Peixinho. She received a licentiate in ‘cello at the Higher School of Applied Arts in the classes of Miguel Rocha and Catherine Stynckx. She studied baroque ‘cello at the Scuola Civica in Milan with Gaetano Nasillo, on a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. She attended masterclasses with the ‘cellists Márcio Carneiro, Jeroen Reulling, Xavier Gagne-Pan, Jian Wang, António Meneses, Elisa Joglar, Leonardo Luckert, Itziar Atutxa and Rainer Zipperling. She won the Second Prize in Class B of the Júlio Cardona String Competition in 2001. She teaches ‘cello at the St Cecilia Academy of Music in Lisbon. She collaborates regularly with orchestras such as Músicos do Tejo (Portugal), Musici di Santa Pelagia (Italy), Divina Armonia (Italy), La Risonanza (Italy) and the Divino Sospiro Baroque Orchestra (Portugal). She is currently completing a master’s degree in instrumental pedagogy at ANSO/ Universidade Lusíada, under the supervision of Paulo Gaio Lima.