Edgar Cardoso

Edgar Cardoso is a "fast-rising star of the global music scene" (Korea Foundation, 2014). The name and the music of the 23-year-old Portuguese pianist are being spotted all over the world, with the rapid increase of his international reputation. Combining a simmering energy and a matured elegance, Edgar is embarking on a very exciting and promising musical journey around the globe. Edgar has performed in a total of 16 countries so far: Portugal (all the main venues like Casa da Música or Europarque) Spain (a residency at the MEAM in Barcelona and recitals in Jávea, Alicante) France (solo recitals in Paris and in the region of Aquitaine) Italy (tour in the Lazio region) United Kingdom (several concerts in Manchester and London) Germany (performances in Freiburg, Fulda and Stuttgart) Malta (performances in La Valletta, St. Julians and Sliema) Tunisia (guest artist in festivals in Sidi Bou Saïd, Gammarth and Tunis) Morocco (performance in Rabat) Lithuania (performances in several venues in Druskininkai) Latvia (solo event in Riga) Estonia (guest artist at chamber music festival in Tallinn) Russia (performances at the major halls of Gnesin's Russian Academy of Music in Moscow) USA (performances during a piano festival in Honolulu, Hawaii, performance in Orange County, California and a solo recital in Los Angeles) South Korea (solo recitals in Seoul and Yangpyeong) Serbia (solo recital in Belgrade and performance at the Kolarac Concert Hall, the most prestigious venue in Serbia) The amount of concerts he has had is, in part, due to having obtained more than 40 national and international prizes in piano competitions in Portugal, Spain, France, Lithuania, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, UK, Serbia, Russia and USA. He goes also to many Summer festivals on a regular basis, receiving tutelage from some of the most important piano masters alive, such as Paul Badura-Skoda, John Perry, Boris Berman, Akiko Ebi, Joaquín Soriano, Jon Nakamatsu, Pascal Rogé, Josep Colóm, Luiz de Moura e Castro, Peter Donohoe, Philippe Cassard, Sergei Senkov, Frederic Chiu, Thomas Sauer, Joan Havill, Guoda Gedvilaite, Maria Korecka Soszkowska, Rodolfo Rubino, Christopher Hinterhuber, among many others. Edgar had his debut as a soloist with orchestra in Moscow, with Gnesin's Symphonic Orchestra. After that, he has played with Norfolk Youth Orchestra (UK), Orquestra do Norte (Portugal) and Trinity Wind Orchestra (UK). His first CD will be released under recording label KNS Classical in Barcelona, Spain, with works by Claude Debussy. Edgar Cardoso finished his Master's Degree with Distinction at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where he continues his training with Deniz Gelenbe in a Post-Graduation - Artist Diploma. Edgar is a scholar of the Stopford Westminster Bursary, the Tillett Trust and the Colin Keer Trust at the present academic year. He first started his training in his hometown Porto, with Álvaro Teixeira Lopes. The same teacher supervised him at Universidade de Aveiro during his Bachelor's Degree, although in his Senior year, he went to Germany for an Exchange Program at Musikhochschule Stuttgart, where he got precious guidance from Friedemann Rieger and Andrzej Ratusinski. In both institutions he achieved top marks in all subjects, being granted several scholarships. Edgar is also currently researching on the cross-disciplinary work in Education, focusing on Creative Drama and Movement applied to Music, due to his other performing arts skills, which have been leading to the establishment of regular Workshops for children in Porto on how to use the piano in a creative manner. These studies led to a presentation at the ICMPC13 Conference in Seoul, South Korea, as a preparation for his dissertation for a Master's degree in Music Education at Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal, marked with a rare 20 out of 20 points.