ABOUT
ABOUT
"A very strong personality, a very convincing stage presence and excellent abilities as a violinist. His future is very bright and promising."
- Alissa Margulis, violinist
A passionate young violinist hailing from Lisbon, Manuel De Almeida-Ferrer has performed on numerous stages in countries such as the UK, Belgium, Germany and China.
He had his solo debut at the age of twelve with Orquestra Gulbenkian under the baton of Michael Zilm and often performs both as soloist and chamber-musician ever since, collaborating with Holly Choe, Johannes Schlaefli, the Hermes Ensemble, Karen Gomyo, Daniel Rowland and Kyril Zlotnikov, and presenting himself with orchestras such as Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa and Orquestra Clássica do Centro. He is also a prize-winner in competitions in the UK, Belgium, Portugal and France and has also been a scholarship recipient from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Royal Academy of Music, Jeunesses Musicales International Deutschland and FNAPEC–France. His musical career took him to stages such as Wigmore Hall (London), TivoliVredenburg (Utrecht), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), Teatro São Carlos (Lisbon), Casa da Música (Porto), l’Auditori (Barcelona), Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid), among other venues.
With Shostakovich's Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8... Manuel De Almeida-Ferrer shone on the violin in the most incisive and melodic passages. A moving and heartfelt concert... [that] promises a brilliant future.
- La Verdad Murcia
A dedicated chamber musician, Manuel has been involved in several chamber music groups and has presented himself in festivals such as Schiermonnikoog Chamber Music Festival, Stift Festival, Festival dos Capuchos, Bragança MusicFest and Thy Chamber Music Festival, among others. He has been in training in NSKA under the artistic leadership of Marc Danel, and has received prizes in chamber music competitions in Andorra, Spain, Italy, Belgium and the UK. Formerly the meber of Trio Jakob, with whom he has twice recorded for RTP-Antena 2, as well as for the soundtrack of the documentary film by Sergei Loznitsa, The Invasion (2024) about the Russian invavsion of Ukraine. Amongst his other chamber projects, Manuel also counts the release of a CD by Da Vinci Records with the first ever recording of David Winkler’s piano quintet, a work commissioned by Martha Argerich.
Manuel is also an experienced orchestral player, being a regular guest concertmaster of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Loures and a regular guest player with the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra and the Stift Festival Orchestra. During his studies, Manuel was a member of the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble, a chamber ensemble made up of the best students of the school, and has recorded in this capacity with Trevor Pinnock for Linn Records (UK).
With a constant sense of exploration, Manuel maintains an active search for works by contemporary composers having been the dedicatee of pieces by composers such as Pedro Lima Soares and Octavi Rumbau. His repertoire includes works by Eurico Carrapatoso, Jinwook Jung, Francisco Chaves, Valentina Ciardelli and Rebecca Saunders, among others, collaborating directly with some of these composers in their creative process and playing in the world and national premieres of some of their works.
Manuel started his violin studies with Marylin Brito and continued them with Gareguin Aroutiounian. He has studied with Alissa Margulis, Jack Liebeck and Ilya Grubert in the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.